Filippo La Vaccara Creates Quarantine Sculpture from Found Materials

During Italy's COVID-19 lockdown, Catania-based artist Filippo La Vaccara (born 1972) has shifted his practice to working with limited materials available in his studio. His first quarantine sculpture, a dinosaur riding a bicycle made from wire, paper, and paint, emerged from playing with his son Santiago. La Vaccara deliberately avoids direct commentary on the pandemic, citing artists like Edward Hopper and Lucio Fontana who continued their work through world wars without explicit war narratives. His portraits now draw from books, photographs, and art history rather than daily encounters. He reports working more slowly, with a newfound economy of materials and time, using the solitude for reflection through catalogues and monographs.