Exquisite Arts Magazine Vol 3 - Nov/ Dec 2016 | Page 28

Your art pieces are amazing, it is a raw
blend of originality and talent. What is
your artistic background?
My background is in Classics and Law,
which I actually chose to make up for what
I believed I naturally lacked in my
character: Attention to form and detail
rather than to content and emotion. But I
have always loved and practiced crafts and
fine art as a hobby, and had a natural
propension for it: it came so natural in fact
that for some tortuous misconception I
always thought it was too easy to be a
profession. And please, do not take this as
arrogance: rather, as an admission of one
of my biggest mistakes! But it is also
thanks to it that I have lived in various
countries, in constant search of new
stimula to placate my restlessness,
and that I am now so eager to make up for
all the time lost!
You mentioned that your mission is to
make Mosaics ROCK! Why is this so
important to you and where does your
passion for working with rocks come
from?

Deeply so. It is so much easier to use new,
raw material and shape it at will: but the
waste can be immense. When I do so (i.e.
with portraits, as they require exact
shapes) I always keep all left-over material
and make a point of re-using as much as
possible of everything, down to the tiniest
piece. It is time-consuming, but I strongly
believe that nowadays we can no longer
live in the surreal belief that our resources
are infinite, and it is imperative that we upcycle, re-cycle and re-use as much as
possible. Abusing nature will lead us to our
graves! I believe, I know that we are better
than that. This is an underlying message in
each piece I do: to prove that it can be
done, and that the results can be quite
surprising.
So many times I come back with my arms
and pockets full of stuff that I found on my
way home: for example, most of the wooden
boards I use as bases come from old shelves
dumped on the side of the street.
Someone’s rubbish is someone else’s
treasure… mine for sure!

Despite my education, I have always been
a very hands-on person. I am fascinated by
colours,
shapes,
textures,
sounds,
smells… and mosaics give me the perfect
way to combine them all. Anything has at
least one fascinating feature about it, and
mosaics allow to communicate it for each
little piece used. At least, that is my aim.
And let us not forget the best part of
mosaics - they are meant to be touched!
When I say I want to make Mosaics rock, I
also mean that I want to rock it free from
its tradition of millennia and get it out
there re-vamped, to show how much
potential it has - SO much more than what
it is currently known for!!!
How has the idea of mankind’s imminent
self-destruction and your belief in a
future for humanity through recycling
and upcycling influenced your artwork?

Page 27

Many believe that artists have a social
responsibility or that art should convey a
deep rooted message.
What are your
thoughts, what does art mean to you?
I believe that an artist has the social
responsibility of not feeling bound by any.
Let me explain: I believe that, by definition,