Ceramics as a total art
- Roberto’s work is deeply rooted in the land he is from
- A fascination with the concept of the void led him to ceramics
- He designs his pieces in the moment of making with his hands
Born and raised in Pitigliano, in the Tuscan Maremma, Roberto Polidori, after exploring painting, conceptual art and architecture, arrived at ceramics. In 1977 he opened his atelier, literally saving the ancient traditions of ceramics and majolica, and reaffirming the high cultural and expressive value of the potter. Reinterpreting methods and materials, Roberto creates collections with specific identities: Riflessi e Risonanze, using the rare technique of luster; Terre e Foglie di Maremma, rooted in the nature of the region; Maiolica Archaica, recalling medieval shapes and colours. Roberto has opened his practice up to collaborations with artists and to the transmission of his know-how. After training many apprentices, currently his three children Laura, Giovanni and Alessandro work with him.
Interview
- How do you create your ceramics?
- I design with my hands, making with different materials. It is the only way to know how far I can go, within limits that cannot be ignored. The problems that arise when working with the various doughs can only be solved in the workshop, with observation and experience. You just have to learn from the material in the moment.
- Do you speak to share the 'endangered potter's wisdom'?
- Yes. Reviving the figure of the potter was a strong motivation for me. The ceramicist's workshop was the first workshop of Man, though it is an unwritten story. In Pitigliano and the Grosseto area, all the ceramic workshops closed in the 1950s. Happily, I could meet the 90-year-old master Mario Pizzinelli.
- How did you choose ceramics as your means of expression?
- First, it was for the fascination of the void: building the exact space to host a content. The utility of the jug consists in its ability to contain. It seemed to me the exact metaphor of mankind. Also, those were the years of the cultural debate on 'total art'. I suddenly found myself faced with it.
- What do you mean exactly?
- Ceramics is 'total art', in the sense that it is made up of painting, sculpture, modelling, building walls around the void (as a bricklayer does), but also of storytelling, narration that takes place in the temporal dimension. You cannot get away from this art, once you have encountered it: it is all there.
Roberto Polidori is an expert artisan: he began his career in 1977
Works
Where
Roberto Polidori
