Gianluca Brando on Mutability, Memory, and Sculpture in Interview

Gianluca Brando (Maratea, 1990) discusses his sculptural practice in an interview with Davide Dal Sasso. After studying at the Academies of Fine Arts in Rome and Venice, Brando lived in Taiwan from 2014 to 2017, engaging with Taipei's art scene. He later completed residencies at Cripta747 in Turin, Officine Saffi, and VIR Viafarini in Milan. His work was recently included in the Index project of the Fondazione SoutHeritage in Matera. Central themes in his practice include mutability, material manipulation, perception, transformation, time, and memory. Brando describes an intimate, almost erotic relationship with materials, driven by attraction to surfaces and a need to 'be in things.' He emphasizes transformation as a process influenced by variables encountered during work. His piece Imago (2018), a nearly invisible bronze wire, was inspired by a Chinese pharmacy display of 'winter worm, summer grass,' a parasitic fungus that transforms its host. He is currently studying the form of roof tiles, exploring representation and inversion through terracotta casts. His installation Nu Vaso (2019) at BoCs Art in Cosenza used polyethylene sheets and elements referencing the myth of Butades' daughter, who traced her lover's shadow, linking to memory and separation. Brando sees the Coronavirus lockdown as a period of suspension offering new perspectives and a chance to rethink humanity's relationship with the world.