Valerio saltarelli savi - Autoritratto

Sculpture on a pedestal in raku ceramic, a technique that involves creating cracks on the surface of the piece, achieved through controlled thermal shock.
A self-portrait the artist created of himself using the casting technique. The sculpture is arranged as a funerary mask, a genre quite widespread until the 1800s and the first part of the 1900s. Today, funerary masks are rarer, but they remain prized objects for a niche of enthusiasts.
This sculpture in particular was used as an initial test to develop Valerio Saltarelli's line of sculptural portraiture of third parties. The technique used (raku firing) does not allow for a precise definition of the face, but rather a very distinctive smooth, glossy, and polished effect in a portrait.

Mounted on a metal pedestal.
Signed by the artist Valerio Saltarelli Savi, with the acronym VSS.

Valerio Saltarelli Savi operates in the field of Visual Arts and in that blurred realm, and at the same time
very concrete, in the Applied Arts, thanks to a natural talent in manipulating the
material, which allows him to approach in the 1990s the world of authorial design and to
Collaborations with major milestones in the industry, particularly with the Memphis Group.
A deep sensitivity to perceiving reality, and an insatiable curiosity, translate into
a highly personal language, in which the convolutions of a restless mind take shape
in sculpture, elements of artistic furniture and multi-material compositions imbued with passion and poetry.
An attention to the many facets of contemporary life, in particular to the themes of the
predestination, the cruelty of everyday life, the decay of values, the dichotomy between a
capricious fortune and faith (in the sense of the stubborn and confident pursuit of a goal)
I am the throughline of an imposing and intricate production.
The materials he uses, passionately sought-after, are often absolute museum rarities, and
They range from the brutal element to the precious object: Saltarelli's focus is not on intrinsic value.
of the retrieved media, but regarding the original vision offered by the composition, whose final title is almost
always a surprising key to interpretation, opening the doors to its entirety
corpus of works.
Over the years, he has participated in numerous personal and collective initiatives with public and private institutions.
He lives and works in Centovera (Piacenza, Italy).
For a complete view of his/her journey: www.valeriosaltarellisavi.it