Federico Branchetti on Clay, Writing, and Sculpture

Federico Branchetti (born 1994) discusses his long-standing relationship with earth as a sculptural material, emphasizing that there was no single epiphany but a continuous physical engagement. He cites Costantino Nivola's 'Letti' series as an inspiration for its delicacy and restrained intervention. Branchetti values clay's malleability, which allows for constant revision and destruction, and finds that the transition to bronze preserves the immediacy of his gestures. He alternates between clay and plaster based on each project's needs, sometimes using both for the same subject. While he works alone in his studio, he collaborates with foundries for casting and patinas, viewing such partnerships as opportunities for new perspectives. Since 2016, he has collected short texts called 'Frammenti,' integrating poetry into his artist's book 'Riprendere Corpo' (2016) and the video 'Soffiare via il buio dalla notte' (2019). Writing serves as a clarifying tool for his ideas on sculpture and time. Drawing and sculpture are both methods of thought exploration, with drawing offering immediacy. He admires the clarity of Pontormo, Rodin, and Matisse, whose drawings achieve resolution with minimal marks. For Branchetti, the link between drawing and sculpture is the pursuit of maximum resoluteness—a spiritual act of attention and trust in one's experience. The interview is part of the series 'Gli artisti e la ceramica' on Artribune, curated by Irene Biolchini.