Drawing with Stone

Dear Friends,

I am delighted to share a recently published interview by my alma mater, St. Stephen’s School in Rome. The article delves into my work and process, providing a deep dive into my sculpture journey and also into Art Is... a podcast for artists, the podcast I started as a recent art school grad during covid. Additionally, I wanted to offer you a preview of the ongoing projects in my studio and some recently completed sculpture. 

I’ve been thinking about what the wonderful painter Cristina Quarles said about how when we look at drawings, we are trained to ignore the blankness of the paper. Instead, we focus on the marks on the page, conditioned not to question the presence of 'white paper.' As I've mentioned in previous newsletters, I approach marble carving much like drawing, using a gestural hand to guide the process. I do this by carving portions of the marble and leaving other sections raw. Therefore, choosing the right stone for the right sculpture is the first step in this process. Subsequently, I carve out the idea I mapped out in my mind directly onto the stone, purposefully leaving segments of raw stone to offset the carved portions.

In this analogy, the raw portions of marble serve as my 'blank paper.' Similar to the significance of negative space in drawing, raw stone plays a crucial role in the composition, providing a three-dimensional balance to the carved sections.

In contrast to drawing on a flat, uniform blank page, working with raw marble presents multiple challenges in composition. The natural formation of the rock, with its potential fissures and asymmetrical configuration, requires me to negotiate and carve out space for my sculpture (see video below). Resolving this interplay between my artistic vision and the stone's natural formation can be both frustrating and exhilarating.

Marble carving, being a subtractive process, offers a limited palette, presenting a true challenge as there are no distracting elements—no other media or vibrant colors. The work itself is solely focused on the form and texture of marble, a material shaped by the earth millions of years ago.

The piece presented above and below is Atlas, part of my ongoing series Dark Optimism: Ghost in the Stone, extensively discussed in my third sculpture newsletter. The heart of this series lies in its exploration of ecological and geological themes, presenting disjoined marble studies of the human figure emerging organically from raw stone.

Atlas is a hand-carved sculpture in Macael marble, portraying a playful and sensual detail of a female nude contrasted against a sinuous carved landscape of wavy cuts running alongside raw stone. This pairing, combined with intentional fragmentation and natural fissures in the marble, offers commentary on the body as a geological form, both in and on the land. 

As humans, our lives are brief, and our attention spans are fleeting. The millions-of-years-old marble challenges our ability to comprehend time on a grand scale. Contemplating geological deep time can nurture a more nuanced understanding of our planet's continuous evolution, particularly in the face of the ongoing climate catastrophe. This reflection prompts a reassessment and a heightened sense of responsibility in our relationship with the environment. In this context, Atlas fosters a ‘dark optimism’ by highlighting our ability to comprehend the transience of our time on Earth. It seeks to offer perspective by juxtaposing our measurement of time with the fleeting nature of our own existence, all while playfully sitting wherever it's placed, adding a touch of tongue-in-cheek charm to balance the gravity of its message.

Thank you for being here; I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to share my work with you. Currently, I'm immersed in developing numerous new sculptures. If you are interested in discovering more about the available pieces, please don't hesitate to reach out directly at [email protected].

Warm wishes,

Isotta