Life

Title:  Life

Year: 1996 – 2022

Size: 76 x 100 cm

Technique: Collage of recycled materials, crochet, and oil painting on wood

Life is the last artwork I created in Brazil and brought with me to Italy — a piece that carries the essence of that transformative period. Originally made entirely of collage, this work marks the transition to painting, as I began to integrate oil colors into my process. I used to wake up early to paint the sunrise and climb to the rooftop in the afternoon to capture the sunset. Before this, scissors were my brush.

In Brazil, I learned crochet from the elderly women of the village of Itaparica, Bahia. I made bikinis, hats, and bags on commission, and often used the remnants of crochet in my artworks. The collages were created with recycled materials — wood, bark, fabrics, shells — gathered from nature, the forest, and the beach.

Life was made on a large wooden board I found abandoned in a courtyard in Fortaleza, the last place I lived before returning to Italy. Though the surface was uneven, I managed to fix it so it could be hung. This work symbolizes a time when creation was driven by both necessity and freedom — by the desire to express life itself with what nature offered. The figure, rising from a red base toward the sky, celebrates the union of earth and spirit, matter and light.

Now, after years of evolution, I no longer seek philosophical answers about existence: I know that everything is already connected and integrated within me. Life remains a testimony to that awakening — the moment when art, nature, and being became one.

Availability: Original work, unique piece. Inquire about this artwork