Artist Statement
I do sculpture work that involves the body. Using my body has been a continuing theme in my work. I use the body as a stand in for myself to tell a story. I work with plaster and make the work by covering myself in the material and then cutting myself out. The process of making the piece is important. I am expressing an emotion, a feeling of being overwhelmed. Plastering parts of my body with no specific idea in mind of what it would turn out to be. What I was focusing on was expressing a feeling of being surrounded and trapped and unable to move. The body in the centre is the focus point, trying to swarm and suffocate the centre body. There are a number of bodies climbing and reaching for the figure in the centre. I used bodies to express an overwhelming feeling of the centre body. The sculpture was intended to hang on the ceiling and have this overwhelming emotion move down into another space towards the viewer.
“Emotions matter. Our Actions, our thoughts, our decisions are all influenced by our feelings and emotions. Art is a human activity, and therefore emotions ought to have a place in any artistic theory”. - Mattia Malvestiti, in Art as Emotion
“Emotions matter. Our Actions, our thoughts, our decisions are all influenced by our feelings and emotions. Art is a human activity, and therefore emotions ought to have a place in any artistic theory”. - Mattia Malvestiti, in Art as Emotion