UMANA
CLAY SCULPTURE SET Sculptor and Art Director
The UMANA project starts as an exploration of the human body as a source of inspiration and spans several fields from sculpture to architectural design. The project tracks the transition from the initial source of inspiration to a first sculptural translation and finally towards an architectural piece.
The fascination for the human body started with its versatility, which allows for the overlap of many levels of abstraction, and the development of surreal scenarios.
In the process of analysis of the human body as complex system, a first step of “alienation” from my own body was undertaken. In order to reconsider it through an external view, I had to detach myself as much as possible from the pre-constructed understanding I had of my own body.
Through this lens of distortion, the body becomes a living machine. The aim was to analyse it from an external perspective, using the body’s needs and means of communication as my tools of analysis.
The following text summarises the fascination behind the body:
Therefore, I first tried to focus on the senses, as they can be defined as the way the body interacts to the outside and communicates its needs. My first experimentation consisted in making small clay objects that could be linked to specific sensations and senses.
Human clay grammar.
After few iterations of similar object, which represented simple body parts. I tried to detach myself from the realm of reality and abstract the pieces by means of imprints. This second set of objects has a different aim: feelings and sensations are translated into tactile clay sculptures that trigger human emotions.