UPROOTED

The work come out of a deep tension between me and the material that led me to a more conscientious reflection around this relationship that has lasted for two decades and ended leading me to unexpected choices in uncharted territories. My aim was to turn a large vessel from a rescued olive root that would later become part of the Roots series I was working at that time, but then during the seasoning process, observing the extreme reaction and twist of the wood over the shape I had given it, I realized that I had to change my mind and let this work suggest me a new direction. Somehow that evolution of form meant for me a very will of the root to return to the earth, and in that I felt the tragedy of its uprooting. Many times I have come across new sprouts born on olive tree roots even long after they had been eradicated. 

From this point I realized that I needed to quit my previous expectations and look for a way to summarize that feeling with a gesture. I went when the tree was uprooted to collect some tuff to be used directly on the piece after the drying process. I felt a little forced because I have never employed decoration on wood before in order to respect its pure visual aspect. But in this particular case it was different and I found the courage to practice that decoration. I wanted the earth, the tuff in this case, became a symbol of hope, the human will that bends in front of a request of nature, renouncing his own expectations and reconnecting to a deeper message, that of respect.