Umberto Ughi

Scagliola maker

©Giovanni Busnach

The expressive potential of scagliola

Umberto is opening a new field for scagliola
His work challenges the limits of this material
He is a skilled foundry modeller and craftsman

After a degree in philosophy in Brighton, Umberto Ughi decided to follow a professional path of artistic craft. He learned the basics of sculpture in the historic Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan, where he started working in 2016. His choice of this career is linked to his father Stefano, an architect and artist known for his sound sculptures, with whom he collaborated as an assistant on weekends during the first two years of working in the foundry. Inspired by many varied influences, Umberto found his way in the use of scagliola for sculpting. He carries out considerable technical research work, in order to make this artificial marble material that is made of plaster and pigments into a sculptural material in its own right.

Interview

©Giovanni Busnach

©Giovanni Busnach

What technique makes your work particularly recognisable?: Creating sculptures using scagliola, a material created as a substitute for marble in the covering of walls, columns and semi-columns. The use of artificial marble as a means of expression in sculpture currently makes my research almost unique.
What is the purpose of your work?: My aim is to bring this material to have its own identity, its own specific and distinct value compared to other materials traditionally used in sculpture, freeing it from the completely secondary role of substitute for marble in architecture that it has always had.
Have you developed new techniques or solutions?: To make scagliola a sculptural material it was necessary to develop different techniques and solutions. Above all, being made of plaster, it was necessary to reinforce it so that it could take on various shapes, especially fine shapes that could withstand considerable loads from a structural point of view.
What or who inspires you to nourish your creativity?: I find the greatest inspirations in the foundry: the constant contact with different materials allows me to develop techniques to create new work. I also get a lot from the relationship with the artists and artisans there, and in particular from the artisans’ mastery and long experience in the field, which is always a source of new teachings.

Umberto Ughi is a rising star: he began his career in 2016