Sarah Monk meets artists and artisans who tell their stories through the materials they choose.
We started in Pietrasanta and Carrara, northern Italy, where generations of artists have worked in marble. Over the last five years Materially Speaking has interviewed artists and artisans in London, Paris and Venice.
Our focus is to entertain with stories of artists and their materials, and to capture their communities.
Maja Thommen:
Spiral
Maja Thommen went to a tombstone sculptor at the age of 26 and asked to learn his technique. As soon as she picked up the tools, she knew ‘sculpture, that was it’.
Ursula Corsi:
Mosaici
Ursula è un'artista locale che si è formata presso Favret Mosaici, il famoso laboratorio di Pietrasanta che dal 1933 crea mosaici per tutto il mondo.
Anne-Claire van den Elshout:
Icarus
Anne-Claire disliked creating art with digital technology, until artisan Claudio helped her capture emotions on camera and print them in 3-D.
Usama Alnassar:
I could build a theatre here
Usama made the journey from Syria to Carrara and fell in love with a piece of land where he was inspired to build a theatre.
John Fisher:
Carving lines
Sculptor, painter and artist John Fisher takes a direct, flexible, profile approach to carving and works without models or drawings.
Sandy Oppenheimer:
Painting with paper
Sandy loved Pietrasanta’s landscape but didn’t take to marble. Then a life-changing trip to Japan inspired her to paint with paper.
Notre-Dame:
An acoustic reconstruction
What can sound tell us about an iconic place, its past and its future? Discover its crucial role from the team in charge of acoustics in Notre-Dame’s restoration.
Viareggio Carnival 2024:
Confetti in their blood
Returning to Viareggio Carnival on the 20th anniversary of La Compagnia del Carnevale to discover why their 200 volunteers come back year after year.
Gabriele Gelatti:
Like an insect
Gabriele Gelatti creates pebble mosaics which adorn churchyards and aristocratic gardens in the northern Italian region of Liguria.
Robin Bell:
Pioneers and famous Canadians
A Canadian sculptor in Italy, Robin describes his self-taught approach to sculpture, celebrity commissions and learning directly from artisans.
Janice Mehlman:
Come fly with me
Janice Mehlman, New York photographer and professor of art, tells how her work moved from black-and-white images of architecture to colourful reflections of her soul.
Steaven Richard:
Paris - Artsmithing
Steaven Richard’s love of horses led to a stint in the army as a farrier making horseshoes. While travelling he found architectural styles that inspired his artistic metalwork.
Xavier Montoy:
Paris - Sternocera aequisignata
Xavier is passionate about insects and makes jewellery which highlights the beauty of the iridescent Sternocera beetle.
Judith Kraft:
Paris - Early instrument maker
American-born Judith Kraft came to Paris to learn how to make the ancient musical instruments she loved – medieval fiddles and viola da gambas.
Sylvain Maenhout:
Paris - Forging a new life
Sylvain Maenhout left his job in IT services to carve out a new life as an artisan making bespoke knives.
Trailer:
Paris transformations
This spring sound specialist Mike Axinn and I went to Paris to meet four artisans and see how they practise their craft in an urban setting.
Ron Mehlman:
An artist of many parts
Ron Mehlman grew up in Brooklyn and came to Pietrasanta in the 1980s. In his quest for creating sculpture infused with spirit and life, no materials are off limits.
Nicola Stagetti:
We can move the mountain
Nicola Stagetti of Stagetti Studios in Pietrasanta, and Robin Sethi, the project coordinator from India, describe the creation of Pramashwar the Infinite.
John Greer:
Art is a language
John Greer finds that art provides an invaluable structure to his life. Expressing himself in form is more important than a visual language.
Magic at the Carnevale:
Artisans of Viareggio
Viareggio Carnevale began in 1873 and is now a symbol of the city. Artisans gather in winter to create allegorical floats and masks, primarily using newspapers bonded by flour and water.
Silvano Cattaï:
Into the light
Belgian born of Italian parentage, Silvano Cattaï came to sculpt in Italy via filmmaking in New York. Now he creates with a plasma gun and paint on aluminium.
Vanessa Paschakarnis:
Feel with your eyes
German born Vanessa Paschakarnis migrated to Nova Scotia before coming to Pietrasanta in northern Italy. Hers is a philosophical approach to sculpture.
Alvisé Boccanegra:
Venice — A floating miracle
Alvisé Boccanegra trained in restoration in the workshops of the Church of San Marco. He tells how he repaired a crucifix after Venice flooded in 2019.
Gabriele Gmeiner:
Venice — Walking in their shoes
Gabriele Gmeiner makes high quality made-to-measure shoes in her workshop at Campiello del Sol. She speaks of her craft, her journey from Austria and why she chose Venice.
Piero Dri:
Venice — Rowing through time
Piero Dri is the fourth and youngest remer in Venice making oars and oarlocks, or in Italian ‘forcolai’. Piero learned how to row aged just four. It's been his passion ever since.
Trailer:
If you love Venice
Sound specialist Mike Axinn and I went to Venice during Homo Faber this Spring to meet three inspirational artisans. Here’s a short preview of their episodes.
Marianna Blier:
Home
Marianna has Jewish, Ukrainian and Russian roots, but a lifelong passion for Michelangelo’s marble drew her to Carrara, a place she now calls home.
Daphné Du Barry:
What is beauty?
Celebrated figurative sculptor Daphné Du Barry speaks seven languages and modelled for Salvador Dali in her 20s. She discusses her bronzes, her love of learning and her faith.
Helaine Blumenfeld OBE:
The language of sculpture
Renowned sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld continually re-invents herself in her search for a vocabulary of form.
Nilda Comas:
It was just a dream
Puerto Rican born Nilda Comas tells how she came to create the first state-sponsored African American statue for the US Capitol’s National Statuary Hall, in Washington.
on form:
On stone
on form is an exhibition of sculpture in stone held every other summer at Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire. Discover what goes on during its installation.
Flavia Robalo:
Dreaming
As a child Flavia Robalo dreamt of flying. She dreamed about it at night as well as in the day. She says that being imaginative always entailed living a little in the clouds.
Veronica Fonzo:
Growth
Veronica Fonzo tells us the history of La Polveriera studios, and why she is inspired by centaurs.
Filippo dalle Luche:
Key to the future
Filippo is a student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara who uses new technology to help his village art gallery go virtual, and create a spare key for the local church.
Julia Vance:
Letters and words
Norwegian artist Julia Vance is inspired by calligraphy and her work has been likened to ‘sculptural minimalistic poetry’.
Guus Jooss:
Serious play
Guus Jooss is an artist and historian who feels a close link with antiquity. He encourages his students to consider creativity as play is to a child: a matter of life and death.
Badriah Hamelink:
Absolute power
Young Dutch artist Badriah Hamelink hitchhiked to Pietrasanta in 2007 with a backpack and not much else. Having recently faced a near-death experience, she doubled her determination to focus on art.
Neil Ferber:
Carvers or modellers
Not into stone for stone’s sake, Neil considers himself more a clay modeller. Turning to different materials, he then transforms his clay models into something more permanent.
Cynthia Sah:
We are all connected
Cynthia tells the journey of her smaller pieces from caressing the stone, creating an artwork through to sharing an emotion with the collector.
Anne Shingleton:
Animal magic
Born on a farm in Dorset, Anne Shingleton has always loved painting animals. In 1980 she came to Florence joining the atelier of a teacher who changed her life.
Nicolas Bertoux:
Red Donkey
Trained as an architect, Nicolas Bertoux likes to know where his sculpture will live, and why. Unfortunately, sometimes the installation is not so straightforward.
Jaya Schuerch:
Living Stone
Jaya Schuerch has always been fascinated by natural phenomena and loves the diversity of forms life can take, reminding us that we all derive from these forms.
Emmanuel Fillion:
The art of cutting stone
Emmanuel Fillion trained young to restore medieval monuments in France. He loved climbing the scaffold in Paris at sunrise, but broke away to become an artist.
Lucy Dickens:
The way she sees it
Lucy Dickens is an artist and illustrator, whose works exudes humour. Close friends since the age of three, Lucy and Sarah ramble and percolate over Lucy’s upcoming show.
Prologue Series 2:
Back again
Twelve more artists, from Italy and the UK, tell us their stories and why they choose the materials they do. Hear some of their voices and how the pandemic impacted them.
Epilogue Series 1:
Taking a break
Materially Speaking breaks for the summer but we've already started recording new interviews and look forward to sharing more artists' stories with you later this year.
Sollai Cartwright:
Inspiration from everywhere
An Australian artist who studied carving in Pietrasanta under some of Italy’s finest artisans, Sollai Cartwright returns each year to find marble from the quarries.
Jacob Cartwright:
Embrace
Born into an artistic family and a musician from the age of nine, Jacob Cartwright tells us how he interprets what he hears or feels into his sculptures.
Christian Lange:
A devil’s tool
Christian Lange researches what tools would have been used on a 500-year-old piece before he starts restoring it. ‘When I use a new tool the aesthetic will change.’
Rita Meier:
Walking on marble
Rita Meier first came to Pietrasanta from Switzerland in 1988 and was amazed to discover there was marble everywhere. She remains fascinated by it.
Neal Barab:
A life of their own
Neal Barab is not limited by the preciousness of white marble. He chooses between many different colours and textures of stone and often adds paint to them.
Almuth Tebbenhoff:
Bigger than I am
Almuth Tebbenhoff left her native Germany for London where an encounter with Eduardo Paolozzi in the late 1970s took her art in a new direction.
Michael Francis Cartwright:
All materials are equal
Michael Cartwright believes that whether you work with a bit of discarded tin or statuario marble from Michelangelo’s quarry, all deserve the same respect.
Martin Foot:
What’s a mistake?
Liverpudlian Martin Foot worked weekends from the age of 13 for his uncle, a stone mason. At 19 he took a one way ticket to Australia to try his luck.
Shona Nunan:
Balance
Australian born Shona Nunan takes inspiration from around the world. Fascinated by the ancient, she describes the impact Aboriginal figures had on her and her art.
Eilis O’Connell:
Obsessed by scale
Eilis O’Connell, from Cork, Ireland, works in a wide range of materials. On arriving in Pietrasanta for a particular commission, she explains why it had to be made in marble.
Douglas Robinson:
The stone spoke
'I'm just one of these people that don't pre-plan the sculpture. I don't make models … like you're supposed to.' Douglas shares his passion for stone and why he loves his new studio.
Eppe de Haan:
Searching Souls
Dutch artist Eppe de Haan began as a painter before starting carving in marble. He tells of this journey from 2D to 3D and speaks of his series Searching Souls and his love of nature and the sea.
Jim Hager:
Homeless
Californian, Jim Hager highlights street homelessness by carving a 'cardboard' house in marble. In a strange twist, gentrification becomes an issue all too close to Jim's studio home.
Stephan Hamel:
Marble, luxury and power
Stephan Hamel tells the story of his Italian grandfather Cosimo Lorenzoni who was sent to India in 1937 to lay marble floors in a palace. Then the outbreak of war brought a dramatic change of fortune.
Turid Gyllenhammar:
Strong women
Norwegian artist Turid Gyllenhammar tells us how she finally came to carve marble in her 50s, and what challenges she had to overcome to get here.
Armen Agop:
Face the nothingness
As an Armenian born in Egypt, Armen Agop was always surrounded by desert. He tells us how this gave him a special freedom to dream and how he came to carve in granite.
Maria Gamundi:
Spirito Libero
Venuzuelan born Maria Gamundi tells how she chose marble for one enormous sculpture and the emotional journey she took creating a memorial for a young woman who lost her life on the road.
Prologue Series 1:
Artists of Pietrasanta
We start with stories from the community of artists working in stone near a town called Pietrasanta in northern Italy. Generations of artists have been coming here to source the marble available nearby and work with the highly skilled artisans.