Marco Petean, sculptor from Udine, Italy. Photo © Courtesy of the artist
1.Tell us what you do and your beginnings.
From an early age I have been passionate about working with terracotta and painting by attending my mother’s laboratory of artistic craftsmanship, with whom I collaborated until 1999. Over the years I have cultivated an interest in modern and contemporary art by visiting museums, exhibitions , art fairs and coming into contact with artists from my region, Friuli Venezia Giulia and from the national scene. This path led me to resume working with clay, giving life to polychrome terracotta sculptures.
2.What does your work aim to say?
Through my terracotta sculptures I rework and reinterpret the experience of having met contemporary artists in their studios. In my boxes I want to convey the emotions I felt in being welcomed by artists, in having the opportunity to learn more about their personality, their history, to capture some of their particularities from the objects they surround themselves with or from the choice of the place where they work.
3.Where do you find inspiration for your art?
It derives from the knowledge of the artists that I then portray in my artist studios, it can be real, based on the encounter with the artist during the studio visits, or it derives from the knowledge of the great historicized artists by visiting museums or exhibitions. I also find inspiration for my work in the knowledge and study of classical and contemporary sculpture. I particularly love the work of sculptors such as Alberto Giacometti, Marino Marini, Arturo Martini, Fausto Melotti, Lucio Fontana, Leoncillo, Nicola Biondani and Pino Deodato. Artists who have used or use clay to create their works and have been able to enhance its characteristics of expressiveness and strength.
