Show Notes
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Renowned sculptor Alex Seton tells us about his journey from a rural Australian upbringing to becoming a prominent artist known for politically charged marble works. He speaks about how he became fascinated with marble at a very early age, and how he was influenced by his unconventional upbringing near an historic quarry. His family spent his childhood in the Australian bush with no electricity, a sawdust toilet and no hot water. He and his three brothers studied in a small local Catholic school. Alex and Sarah met in the studios of Massimo Galleni, which has been his studio in Pietrasanta for the last 15 years, where he was finishing up The Tenderness Series. We learn how his passion for social change inspires his work and leads him to use his art to explore themes of social engagement, privacy, and identity.
Alex tells about a work he did for a sculpture competition in a hotel, which caused a visceral response from viewers - revealing those who had empathy for the homeless and those who reviled them. The piece is called Unsettled. Alex’s first shows included an installation where the gallery had their leather-topped benches replaced by marble versions, which all had bum prints in the marble. So when the visitor came into an empty gallery they would think “what am I looking at?”. Alex became well known for his series of cross-legged, hooded figures with hollowed out faces from 2012, which he presented at the Hong Kong Fair, just before it became Art Basel. The hoodie seemed to him an egalitarian garment - worn as readily by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and by Martin Trayvon, the young man shot dead in Florida. Alex explains he can get obsessed with fashion items. Alex did a series of works during the pandemic, one of which one touched Sarah deeply. Proposal for a Humble Monument was inspired by how, in a place called Bathurst, convicts used to hack away and pull out big blocks of lime. Alex considered all the monuments around the world being pulled down because they reflect our shameful colonial past, and wondered what we might replace them with. He decided something more humble would be appropriate, and so the Proposal For a Humble Monument was named to honour the pain of those miners. Alex tells us how he came to name the piece Someone Died Trying To Have a Life Like Mine (2014) which pays respects to the many refugees whose lives were lost at sea trying to reach a better life.
alexseton.com instagram.com/alexseton_
Massimo Galleni Studios, gallenimassimo.it
Sullivan + Strumpf Gallery, sullivanstrumpf.com
More from Materially Speaking
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Yemisi currently lives in Stockholm but has worked in Pietrasanta since 1999. She lived here for 15 years and creates in marble, granite and bronze. Yemisi's love of animals started at a young age and they are a frequent theme in her work. Yemisi had four aquariums in her room as a child, and tells us why she finds the animals’ anatomy so fascinating. She studied the anatomy of elephants, hippos and rhinoceros in depth and finds in them a testament to ancient times. This interest really comes to life in the foundry, where we watch the final patinas being applied to her series of hippos, each piece brought to life through a distinct choice of colours. Yemisi talks through the process from when she brings her models into the foundry and explains the lost wax process. She also shows us her current series of female torsos and tells us about her grandmothers, and her passion for depicting strong independent women in her sculptures. Yemisi works with a range of stones including marble, Swedish granite, Indian granite, Swedish porphyry and Spanish alabaster, and explains how each of them needs different tools. Recently, she completed a public commission at Bleket bathing place in Tjörn, Sweden, carving directly into the existing granite. She reveals to us how she approached working with this community in another part of Sweden from her own, and giving them something memorable which also blended into their environment. Yemisi was attracted to the challenge of drawing monkeys when she saw how fast they moved. She created a series with a new angle on the old fable of the three monkeys, reversing the original moral this time to encourage listening, talking and expressing. She hopes that listening and speaking out can help resolve modern day issues in society. For this episode we met Yemisi at Fonderia Artistica Versiliese , founded in 1975 in the centre of Pietrasanta. This family-owned foundry is now run by the three brothers Tiberio, Franco and Gabriele Lucarini. Links yemisiwilson.com instagram.com/yemisiwilson
Guarda le immagini e leggi di più su materiallyspeaking.com. See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com including a full English transcript. Questa settimana incontriamo Franco Casoni, maestro intagliatore del legno, per scoprire come realizza le polene, ovvero le figure di prua delle navi. This week we are meeting Franco Casoni, a master wood carver, to find out how he creates ships’ figureheads — known as 'polene'.
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Widely recognised as the inventor of organic cubism, Pollès has created his own private laboratory for the creation of his singular sculptures.
See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Ko Yamazaki was born in Japan but at 17 he went to Paris to study before finding his second home in Italy, working with marble. Today Mike Axinn and I are back in Studio Pescarella, on the outskirts of Pietrasanta to chat with Ko Yamazaki. Originally from Kyoto, Japan, Ko has been coming to carve in Pietrasanta, Italy, since 1992. We find him working in the sunlight, polishing marble in his outside workspace under a hot tin roof. On his cavalletti are some rounded Yin and Yang forms which he is polishing. Born the child of teachers, Ko’s mother was an activist and supported many causes. At the age of 10, he was surprised to find that the summer camp he was sent away on, was for communists. This encouraged him to reflect on the impact of politics from a very young age. Ko’s early life was moulded by a rich blend of activism, creativity, and a sense of independence; he often spent time with his grandmother while his parents worked. At 17, Ko left Japan for Paris and, although young, he was accepted at the Sorbonne to study art. Initially drawn to painting, he soon realized he didn’t enjoy the solitary nature of painting. His father suggested he try Pietrasanta, a town renowned for its marble and artistic community. First Ko stayed with his father in his workspace, and took odd jobs helping out at the foundry and delivery jobs for the galleries. Ko was captivated by the energy and possibilities of working with stone, and decided to stay. He describes his first attempts at sculpture, including carving his own hand in marble, an artwork that was stolen. Established artists, and artisans, helped him shape his learning, and develop his approach in conceptual art. He works in wood while he is in Kyoto and stone when in Pietrasanta. He divides his working life between the two. He also sometimes creates in clay and plaster. An avid reader, Ko has always been influenced by his Japanese heritage of the creation of paper.