What does it mean for you to "be an artist" and devote yourself to art?

I like to imagine our society as a huge conglomeration of gears. The movement of one influences and depends on those around. The artist is also a gear, but he is external to the structure. Sometimes he manages to adapt to some mechanism and work, other times he does not find the right fit or being rejected. However, this movement from the outside to the inside and vice versa puts the artist in a position to have other possible points of view.

I began to be interested in art around the age of 23, quite late to be born and lived in Florence, and for a long time it was an escape from a daily life that did not make me satisfied. Over the years, the time to dedicate and the passion in what I did increased. As a result, the quality and my satisfaction increased.

What are the themes of your art?

I decided to speak in my own way about the relationship that the human being has with the environment that surrounds us. A relationship clearly unbalanced by the fact that the Nature operates with the logic of sustainability and adaptation, the human being with the logic of consumption and profit. I think it is the only topic that makes sense to talk about these days because it is the only context in which the single individual can still be decisive.

Why do you choose sculpture as an art form to create?

As a self-taught I started drawing, but despite the practice I was not satisfied at all with the results, maybe I didn't have a good hand. Then I began to put my drawings in a context, within a structures made up of glasses and mirrors. I immediately felt a greater confidence in working with different materials. And the quality of the drawings also improved. When I made the first works in three dimensions, I realized that it was natural for me to modify, experiment, find the right proportions, build a work following the idea I had in mind, solve the structural problems that I found during processing. So I learned to work with metals, wood, yarns to create series of sculptures both by addition and by subtraction on the issues that interest me. I think sculpture has infinite points of view and possibilities.

What role do you think art has in the relationship between man and the world?

I am quite confused about this. The importance of art is absolutely evident everywhere and has always been in every society. Indeed it is essential to our human beings. We are proud of our great artists and of the works that have made history. But only of those. We forget that those artists, before becoming immortal, were unknown artists who found someone who believed in them and in the importance of what they did. 

For the mass, the places of art are those of public art, our museums and our cities. There is no widespread desire for personal art, to have an original art work by artist X because it moves us or makes us reflect. There is only a small number of wealthy people who, after having satisfied all their needs, still have the economic possibility and the desire to buy a piece of contemporary art. Although in these cases, they often try to invest in established names. I understand that, especially in times of economic crisis, the priorities are different, and you cannot eat or wear an art work. But you can't even eat the new smartphone just a little bit different from last year's or the umpteenth pair of shoes to add to the closet, but people are still making sacrifices for these things. Therefore it seems that art is fundamental for man only when it is free. Art should be a need, which in addition improves the aesthetics of the environments in which we live, makes us reflect on new points of view.

What impact did the experience of crossing between East and West have on your art?

I lived for three months in Shanghai in the Bund area, a very western context. I studied silk and its production techniques, but I cannot say that I have known the East and if it has had an impact on my art. What I can say is that I, a Florentine, had to go to China to find someone (DoBe group and Sino Italian Design Exchange Center) who would give me the opportunity and the confidence to exhibit my works in Florence. This seems extraordinary to me.