Marble, to me, is much more than a raw material. It is a traveling companion, a silent collaborator in my artistic quest. As Michelangelo once said, "You see a block, think of the image: the image is inside, it just needs to be revealed." Marble in sculpture is my starting block, the beginning of a profound dialogue between my creativity and the force of nature. Marble is beautiful, but it is also fragile and heavy. It is a balance between delicacy and solidity, between lightness and mass. In my work, I must constantly contend with the laws of physics. I have to make it stand, move it carefully, and preserve it over time. It's a challenge, but it's a challenge I embrace with humility. When I sculpt marble, I always strive to push it to its limits without weakening it too much, because I know it could break if I handle it too violently. It's an act of respect for this ancient and precious material. But marble is also a material that transforms over time and through art.
The more I work on it, the more beautiful it becomes. It's a process of growth and evolution. The most challenging thing for a marble sculpture is determining when a work is truly finished. I could continue to work on it indefinitely, fixing details and seeking perfection. But marble is alive, it has its own soul, its own history.
I think of marble as a silent witness to human history. It has seen life and death, known the triumphs and falls of great powers. It has felt the pain and fear in those who have confronted its resistance. It is a part of this land, and when I work on marble, I feel its heart beating next to mine.
It's a deep connection, an osmosis between me and the material. I embrace the concerns of marble, its millennia of wisdom. The more I show respect and love while sculpting it, the more it gives back to me at the end of the work. Marble is not just a cold, silent stone lying on damp ground. It is part of life itself, and those who respect it can sense its vibrant soul.
So when I approach marble, I don't just see it as a material to be sculpted, but as a traveling companion. A companion that teaches me humility, perseverance, and the beauty of transformation. My dialogue with marble is a dialogue with nature itself, with history, and with humanity. And through these marble sculptures, I seek to share this dialogue with the world, inviting others to discover the beauty and depth of marble that goes beyond its cold surface.
Filippo Tincolini