“ Art is a system of reflection in relation to reality that includes a narrative question. In the sense, I pose problems concerning my research, arguments, themes that strike me and on which I reflect and document ”
It is precisely of research that Alberto Fiorin's sculpture speaks, a continuous search that underlies all his work, the primary goal of all activities.
Alberto did not know that he wanted to become an artist, but he had a need to express himself in a different way, through a certain kind of production, activity, storytelling from creative forms. He needed something that would lead him to a personal evolution.
So everything took shape only after his art studies, when he returned to Aviano and was able to approach sculpture in a different way, confronting the scalpellino Sandrino Cipolat, father of the last Aviano scalpellino Nandino Cipolat, who gave him the space and freedom he needed to experiment and learn the craft from a different, more artisanal approach.
...So how do you sculpt the research?
the sculpture itself is a research, because it changes as you go along, and the result is not always what you expect when you start ... but where do you start? Alberto is inspired by problems he encounters during a typical day - from the simplest ones you can think of - or finds themes that strike him in a particular way, reflects on them and documents. That's where the magic comes from: he starts to create something, a sculpture, that can give him answers, and the end result is an enrichment of knowledge and awareness. Or even better, in his own words: « The work [the sculpture] consequently represents a narrative inherent in that theme in relation to how I feel about it and intend to develop it, then as I work I keep thinking, I keep looking for all the possible implications between the work I'm doing and the starting theme. [...] So let's say that the artistic path for me is all that, art in some way is all that involves thought and narrative in some way.
There is a creative development in all this, which is not secondary, but is always about recognizing oneself, understanding one's position in the world. It is all extremely existential, alive. »
Do you want to see what we are talking about?
This is a Braille domino that Alberto made from pink Portugal marble and brass in 2020:
after a walk in San Daniele del Friuli, where he noticed illustrative panels concerning the local flora and fauna with their respective texts in Braille, he posed the problem of what meaning it might have for a blind person to be confronted with this kind of information immersed in an environment of which he could not have full accessibility, knowledge. Consequently, the opposite problem arose: whether it was appropriate to put texts in front of sighted people that were not accessible to them .
Transcribed into Braille in the domino is a poem by a poetress friend of Alberto's that addresses the same issue
Another work that struck us is an ovoid entitled “Autoritratto” ["Self-Portrait"]. It is an ovoid-shaped Carrara marble sculpture with pencil marks on the surface that refer to the shapes of his body and by retracing the dynamic shape of the ovoid several times they become a kind of infinite sign.
Each of his works arises from a reflection, but also provides the cue for the viewer. This creates an exchange between sculptor and observer that becomes a true recognition, because in the true sense of the word "recognition" there is a recognizing of oneself, a reading of oneself through others, through the dialogue there is with other people.
In Alberto's life, research and sculpture are intrinsically linked, there is no one without the other, and just as research is a continuous and inexhaustible work, sculpture follows the same process of evolution:
“ the work that I like the most is the one that I have yet to do.
The one that is under construction, the one that is not yet defined, from which I haven't yet got answers or sometimes the one that poses more doubts for you, that has sides that are not yet resolved so you have to keep looking for the answers, that moves you a little bit further than what you already know and maybe has a relationship of uselessness with the world, with reality or so it seems.
The one that makes you ask questions that you don't have answers to yet. “
We can't help but leave you with the full interview with Alberto too because it is really worth the read, believe us!
His other works:
To find out more about Alberto and his sculptures:
Facebook: Alberto Fiorin
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