Monica Piloni's Self-Portrait Sculptures: Honest Confrontations with the Body

Brazilian sculptor Monica Piloni has built a career on confronting the human form through self-portrait sculptures that are both appealing and disturbing. Her work, which includes series like Samieses and Ilegais, explores themes of eroticism, sexuality, identity, and alienation. Piloni's fascination with the body began at Escola de Musica e Belas Artes do Parana, where she graduated in 2002. She initially worked with live models but found the process invasive, so she turned to herself as the sole model. Her materials range from classical bronze and marble to fiberglass, resin, wood, leather, and velvet, often sourced from warehouses in Brazil. Her process involves pre-production drawings, models, or photographs, followed by engineering and construction. Piloni's sculptures often feature manipulated or discombobulated bodies, such as dolls with tripod heads or a ballerina made of boxed body parts. She has worked in photography and video since 2011, using her sculptures as characters. Piloni describes her inspiration as rooted in anguish and her relationship with her body. She currently lives in Sao Paulo, a city she says embraced her despite its initial hostility. Her work has been featured in Hi-Fructose magazine, and she continues to challenge herself with each new piece.