At the studio Carlo Nicoli, Carrara, Italy
“In many ancient civilizations people sought to fill their daily lives with beauty through the objects they created and with which they surrounded themselves—from jewelry, pottery, and tools to symbolic and religious objects and buildings such as the Etruscan Tombs. They approached the making of an object, no matter how small, as an opportunity to display their creativity, imagination and excellence in craftsmanship. In doing so, they ennobled any material with which they worked and made art an integral part of their lives.
As a sculptor, I am intrigued by the carvings made by primal peoples such as the prehistoric carving called the Venus of Willendorf. It is a female figure less than five inches high that was made around 26,000 BCE and found in Austria in 1908. The perfection with which the voluminous figure was carved seems to indicate that it might have been a fertility symbol. This and other primitive works are an inspiration to me. As I reflect on the desire to communicate that led their makers to make a statement in stone, I see that, even across the millennia that separate us, I share with them that same impulse, that same desire to communicate. And that is what I do through my sculptures.
When collaborating with a client, I see my role as one of translating as best I can his or her ideas into a three-dimensional form. It is a process of mutual participation, a dialogue in which little by little an unveiling takes place. With each completed sculpture I experience the joy of having shared the client’s vision and having been able to materialize that vision in the outer world.”
Elizabeth Freire