Gea

Gea is one of the first academic works in marble and was presented as the final project for a three-year thesis. The work, made of fine white statuary marble from the Michelangelo quarries, supplied by the Barattini workshop, is based on a surrealist interpretation of the primordial titan of Greek mythology. The figure, sculpted directly from stone without the aid of preparatory sketches, depicts Mother Nature in all her strength and power, crystallised in the act of emerging from the Earth. The figure's hands, transforming into roots, allude to her unbreakable bond with the planet, symbolically evoked by the circular base below, the source from which Gea draws her strength, projecting herself upwards. The contrast between the upward tension of the pose and the massive physical structure gives the figure a solid and robust presence which, while maintaining delicate and sinuous lines, recalls the image of a tree in the prime of its growth.