Here, we ask a designer to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their lives.
Age: 51
Occupation: Metal sculptor and light designer
Hometown: Milan
Studio location: Milan
Describe what you make: I sculpt metal and work with light—two materials and two autonomous languages.
The most important thing you’ve designed to date: My monumental panels, called the “Tropical Fossil” series.
The problem your work solves: Let’s be honest: I am not doing stem-cell research! I wish! But I am an artist and, as such, I can only offer my vision to the world.
What you are working on now: I am currently working on a two-ton block of onyx, taking inspiration from my tropical plants.
A new or forthcoming project we should know about: Last month, one of my stainless-steel sculptures was installed in the entrance hall of the Consulate General of Italy on Park Avenue in New York City.
What you absolutely have to have in your studio: Books, books, and books!
What you do when you’re not working: An artist is always working. But when I am away from the studio, I spend my time traveling with my inspiring girls: my wife, Carolina, and my daughters.
Sources of creative envy: Tropical rain forests, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, and my yoga teacher.
The distraction you want to eliminate: I like distractions. I love imperfections.
Concrete or marble? Marble.
High-rise or townhouse? Jungle! But I need green, so a townhouse.
Aliens or ghosts? Aliens, of course.
Remember or forget? Remember always.
Dark or light? That’s an impossible decision. Creating light no longer signifies unveiling the world (as in banishing darkness and its mysteries). Rather, light adds a new, consequential caliber to reality—something that is rich in its shades and nuances, and far more powerful and enveloping. Whoever imagines the world as a place divided between light and shade cannot know the seductiveness of sunset, of twilight zones, or of intermediary stages of light. These moments are beautiful because of their uncertainty.
