EDOARDO MICHELETTI
DENISE COLAIANNI
My Visual Arts course could be summarised by this quote by Debasish Mridha, an American philosopher who
“The mind has exactly the same power as the hands; not merely to grasp the world, but to change it” - Colin Wilson.
believes in the deepest truths that affect human destiny. Living in a turbulent time such as ours, the theme of war
I would describe myself as conceptual artist. I have always been intrigued by the world that surround’s me, not only
has influenced my thoughts and my Visual Arts journey. A worrying time to live in and echoing in WW2, the era
looking at the physical environment, but also the ideologies that shape the society that I live in. Within the pieces
of my grandfather. Losing my grandfather was a great loss as he was a significant figure during my childhood
that I create, my aim is to form an interaction with people, going beyond the superficial and using a conceptual
years. He has never spoken to me about the war in detail, I believe, due to the horrible experiences that occurred
mindset. Throughout my works there is clear repetition of clean and minimalistic design. This is because the main
which had created in him a sense of duty towards me as it was as if he wanted to protect me. From WWII, we can
influences of my inspiration come from Achille Castiglioni as well as Nicola Salvatore and Rachel Whiteread. Despite
draw parallels to the situations that are occurring nowadays in our world such as Trump, the Italian Republic’s
the contradiction of Castiglioni’s design with Salvatore’s work. I found myself in a complete sympathy with these
arguments and Isis, wars in Afghanistan and other places. There are still cruel events that continue to occur,
artists using minimalist shapes combined with organic forms. The piece that suggests this the most is the sculpture
and we are always stuck between them. The most important piece that explores these issues is found in my
“Balena”. For the creation of this sculpture I used balsa wood, an iron bar and acrylic paint. I was truly inspired by
painted observational study, where I have included old objects which I have taken from my grandfather such as
the forms present in nature. Especially focusing on the exterior and the interior of whales, I used the shapes of the
the hats, the poppies which he always took with him wherever he went and his calculator that he used for his
bones of the whale to assemble a balanced sculpture. I looked at the symmetry and thickness between each bone
precise work which he loved. The ‘Soldier Head’ influenced by Adolfo Wildt’s “Ritratto di Ferraris”, has been a
and understood how it can be interpreted in a sculptural vision. I was then intrigued by the Japanese characters and
recurring theme within my work. The head is symbolic of the confusion that soldiers and people at the time were
how each form creates a balance with another. Moreover the work which influenced me the most is that of Berto
experiencing during the war and it is reinforced by the screws and the bolts that explode out of the “brain”. This
Lardera. Once again, the geometric shapes and the use of negative spaces, gave me the essentials to work on a
is further explored through explosive abstract works that exist as shards or explosive parts, or non-representable
well balanced structural sculpture. Therefore the entire motif of this sculpture is to develop the harmony between
shapes – almost the fallout from such disasters. My work has been influenced by many artists such as Giorgio De
natural forms and geometric shapes.
Chirico, Wassily Kandinsky, Adolfo Wildt and many others who have highlighted my main themes regarding war, destruction and chaos. However, my main preoccupation has been to create a road which unites these concepts by bringing them towards a happy ending such as hope and peace. Influenced by my comparative essay, I have associated the geometric forms found in my artworks to represent an expressive function transmitting a harmony and peace through structure and composition.
