See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com On 15th April, 2019 a catastrophic fire broke out in Notre Dame Cathedral. Parisians watched in horror as the spire fell and most of the roof was destroyed. In the aftermath it became clear that a large area was contaminated with toxic dust and lead. The iconic building, which has dominated the Î…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com The flags are out, the bunting too, and the red and white mascot Burlamacco is everywhere as Viareggio eagerly awaits the start of Carnival. The trees are heavy with oranges, the sweet fried dough, chiacchiere, are in the pastry shops - there’s excitement in the air! Dating back to 1873, Viareggi…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Gabriele talks to us about his upbringing in Genoa, his self-taught artistic training, his love for the history of art, and for photography. He explains the process of creating pebble mosaics, including the selection of stones and the use of lime mortar. He also discusses the importance of preser…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com We settle down to chat outside Robin Bell’s home at a sheltered table with a spectacular view of the sea, from Pisa to La Spezia, and the never ending horizon. An exterior storage space against a yellow wall reveals shelves laden with maquettes and sculptures in various stages of completion. Robi…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com The long, narrow, glass-walled studio of Janice Mehlman is perched half way up the steep garden of her home, on a hillside near Pietrasanta. Many of her abstract photographs are hung on crisp white walls, and she welcomes us inside to look at some of her work from the last 30 years. She explains …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Steaven Richard evolved his craft as an apprentice to several artisan blacksmiths over many years and in many countries, before establishing his own atelier in Paris specialising in artistic metalwork Soon demand for his work, from architects and designers, grew - and he needed more space. To acc…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Xavier Montoy grew up in a family of doctors and was always keen on biology. When he chose an artistic route he wanted to focus attention on endangered insects to highlight how we should honour and conserve them. As part of our Paris series, Mike Axinn and I go to the 11th arrondissement of Paris…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Judith’s workshop is in the 10th arrondissement, tucked away in a courtyard behind huge iron gates where tall white buildings house workshops, and motorbikes and cars are squeezed against the walls. There are lines of plants in terracotta pots and a small white dog. Judith greets us in her office…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Sylvain always loved cooking and when he discovered a passion for working with metal and wood he trained so he could create kitchen knives for chefs. Mike Axinn and I travelled to Paris to meet four artisans. In the first of our series we talk with Sylvain Maenhout who took the decision to retrai…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com This spring Mike Axinn and I went to Paris to see how artisans are able to practise their craft in a vibrant, urban setting. We wanted to discover more about the relevance of traditional skills in a world of 21st century technologies. First we met Sylvain Maenhout who gave up a conventional caree…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Ron Mehlman grew up in Brooklyn and came to Pietrasanta in the 1980s. No materials are off limits in his quest for creating sculpture infused with spirit and life. As we settle down to talk by his warm log-burning stove, Ron describes the two walls of his studio with their alphabet of colourful a…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Nicola Stagetti of Stagetti Studios in Pietrasanta, and Robin Sethi, the project coordinator from India, describe the creation of Pramashwar the Infinite. Artisan and studio head Nicola Stagetti spoke to us from his studios, where historic busts line the shelves and the familiar roar of his robot…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com John Greer finds art gives him an invaluable structure in life. Expressing himself in form is more important than a visual language. Professor of sculpture for 26 years at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, John was the catalyst for the ‘Halifax Sculpture’ movement in the 1990s…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Carnevale originated in pagan rituals celebrating winter turning to spring. For Christians it offers a brief hiatus before the rigours of Lent – hence the name ‘carnem levare’ – which means ‘to take away meat’. This is a time to create chaos, to question and poke fun at authority and, for the art…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Silvano Cattaï born in Belgium, of Italian parentage, came to be an artist in Italy by way of making films in New York. After years in sculpture he finally came back to painting but this time with a sculptural angle, using a plasma gun and paint on aluminium. Silvano’s studio houses his powerful …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com German born Vanessa Paschakarnis migrated to Nova Scotia before coming to Pietrasanta in northern Italy. Hers is a philosophical approach to sculpture. I met Vanessa through Californian photographer, Gail Skoff, who took a special series of photos of Vanessa, which you can see on this page. In fr…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com In the third of our Venice series, Mike and I are meeting furniture restorer Alvisé Boccanegra who trained in restoration in the workshops of the Church of San Marco. He tells how he repaired a crucifix after Venice flooded in 2019. Alvisé’s workshop is in the heart of San Polo on the ground floo…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com In this, the second of our Venice series, Mike Axinn and I met Austrian born shoemaker Gabriele Gmeiner who makes high quality made-to-measure shoes in her workshop at Campiello del Sol. She speaks of her craft, her journey from Austria and why she chose Venice. As we turned into Gabriele’s court…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Piero Dri is the fourth and youngest remer in Venice, making oars and oarlocks - or in Italian ‘forcolai’. Since he learnt to row aged 4, rowing has been his passion. I came to Venice with sound specialist Mike Axinn for a special Venice series of Materially Speaking, during the Homo Faber celebr…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com In the Spring of 2022, sound specialist Mike Axinn and I went to Venice during Homo Faber, an event created by the Michelangelo Foundation to celebrate master craftsmanship. We wanted to discover more about the community of younger artisans in Venice - what brought them there, and why they liked …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Marianna Blier was born in Astrakhan, Russia but moved to Vienna in 2007. She now divides her time between her atelier in Vienna, Austria and her marble studios in Carrara, Italy. Eminent Californian photographer Gail Skoff introduced Marianna, and when I followed Gail on one of her photography t…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Celebrated figurative sculptor Daphné Du Barry speaks seven languages and modelled for Salvador Dali in her 20s. She discusses her bronzes, her love of learning and her faith. Born in Holland, Daphné studied at Munich University and afterwards, at McGill in Canada. Later she enrolled at the Sorbo…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Renowned sculptor Helaine Blumenfeld continually re-invents herself in her search for a vocabulary of form. Helaine’s work communicates on all levels: visual, tactile and emotional. She is well-known for her public art and her sculptures often seems weightless as she strives to portray something …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Nilda Comas knew she’d be an artist from a very young age, and now she’ll be the first Hispanic master sculptor to create a statue for the US National Statuary Hall. She describes her journey, from a childhood in Puerto Rico to coming to Italy and learning carving skills from the artisans in Piet…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com on form is an exhibition of sculptures in stone held every other summer at Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire. Discover what goes on during its installation. Creative director, Rosie Pearson tells us about the finials by Anthony Turner on her gateposts which she commissioned in 2000, and how these sowed …

Phong Bui, the publisher and artistic director of the Brooklyn Rail, speaks with Richard about frozen glimpses, trusting in one's anxiety, the difference between being and becoming, and learning English by watching television, as well as his choice of eight books.By Richard Kraft

Poet and translator, Mónica de la Torre speaks with Richard about subversion, multiplicity, her youth in Mexico City, dreaming in both Spanish and English, and her eight talismanic books.By Richard Kraft

Thomas Evans speaks with Richard about his love of autodidacts, resisting specialization, the ethos of domesticity, and getting tattooed in Burma, as well as his choice of eight talismanic books.By Richard Kraft

Peter Gizzi speaks with Richard about poetry as a form of prayer, New York City in the 1980's, his love of the night, being told to do his homework by Allen Ginsberg, and his choice of eight talismanic books.By Richard Kraft

Patrick A. Howell tells Richard about his eight talismanic books, being a realist and an optimist, walking with his head in the clouds, and why Muhammad Ali was more powerful than Jimmy Carter.By Richard Kraft

Richard speaks with poet Ann Lauterbach about radical idealism, disobedient choices, the color of chaos, and living with groundhogs, as well as her list of eight talismanic books.By Richard Kraft

Jonathan Lethem tells Richard about his eight talismanic books and also talks about obscure heroes, his love of the search, growing up in the era of New York's "dystopian abandonment," and what he learned from watching his father paint.By Richard Kraft

Writer Albert Mobilio talks with Richard about his eight talismanic books, the difference between games and play, the "zone of perplexity," and the custom-built bookcase made by his father to house The World Book Encyclopedia.By Richard Kraft

Publisher Lisa Pearson speaks with Richard about dangerous books, resisting the center, sticking up for the underdog, and why she was more comfortable living in Berlin than Wisconsin, as well as her choice of eight talismanic books.By Richard Kraft

Richard talks with the renowned critic, Marjorie Perloff about her choice of eight talismanic books, fleeing Vienna as the Nazis came to power, why poets must embrace the new and why she regrets changing her name from Gabriele Mintz to Marjorie Perloff.By Richard Kraft

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com From a very young age Flavia drew and painted. She was always asking everyone around her for paper and colours because drawing was her language and her refuge. It was her way of processing everything that happened to her, much as some people use writing. Flavia is inspired by her childhood and he…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Veronica was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her mother taught drawing and painting. She learned alongside her mother’s students, discovered clay and soon started creating small animals and other subjects from nature. By the time she was a teenager it was clear that art was her path. She c…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Filippo is a vivacious 24-year-old student at Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara which was founded in 1769 by Maria Teresa Cybo, princess of Carrara, to support the marble industry. The Academy was founded with two schools: sculpture and architecture, but over the centuries painting, scenography,…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com With abstract calligraphic lines, Julia Vance creates sculptural forms in white Italian Statuario marble. She tells us how she created a modern altar, font and pulpit for a new church in Hønefoss, Norway, which replaced the previous church which had burnt down. In this episode, Julia describes a …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Guus Jooss lives in Holland but comes to Pietrasanta in Italy for several months a year to work in marble. Guus used to work as a museum teacher and researcher in the Netherlands when he wasn’t creating his own art. Before that, he went to an art academy in Utrecht for a year, but mostly learnt a…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Badriah Hamelink comes from a family of Dutch intellectuals. Her mother is a professor, while her father is the poet and writer Jaques Hamelink. Her grandmother founded the first Arab study centre in the Netherlands. Her own artistic development however has leant more towards the intuitive than t…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Born in Wales, Neil Ferber started his creative life making models and objects in his parents’ garden shed. After art college he made his way to Italy with his wife, writer Kathleen Jones, where he discovered the artist community working in marble and based himself in several of the studios there…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Cynthia Sah was born in Hong Kong and studied in the USA. She first came to Italy in 1978 to study and came back soon after to learn with the artisans. She has stayed ever since and now works in a studio complex with her partner, Nicolas Bertoux. Inspired by the form, movement and colours that na…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com After studying zoology, then going to art school in Bournemouth, Anne tells how it was the traditional teaching of Signorina Simi in Florence that made her feel she was finally in the right place. Anne stayed in touch with her fellow students who learnt with the artist and teacher Nera Simi (1890…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Originally from Paris, Nicolas first came to Carrara with his father, also a sculptor, who was working on a monumental piece at Henraux. Now he lives and works in Seravezza, northern Tuscany with his partner Cynthia Sah, in an extraordinary pre-industrial building which was once an historic sawmi…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Co-founder of Studio Pescarella near Pietrasanta, Jaya was born in California, moved to Switzerland with her family as a teenager, and later lived in Hawaii where she worked in papier-mâché, lava and basalt. In 1986 she came to Carrara attracted by the marble quarries. Jaya says ‘it’s important t…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Born in Soissons, France, Emmanuel went to trade school at the age of 16 to learn how to renovate historical monuments by hand, specialising in granite. He spent some years restoring churches, cathedrals and monuments all over France until he felt the calling to create his own work as an artist. …

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Lucy Dickens is an artist and illustrator, whose works exudes humour. Close friends since the age of three, Lucy and Sarah ramble and percolate over Lucy’s upcoming show. As a great, great granddaughter of writer Charles Dickens, writing plays an important part in Lucy’s life. Her paintings often…

See pictures and read more on materiallyspeaking.com Welcome back to a second series of Materially Speaking – where artists and artisans tell us their stories through the materials they choose. In these snapshot stories, they tell us about their journey to become an artist, and the inspirations for their work. Along the way, they explain why they h…

Materially Speaking began with interviews from artists and artisans working near Pietrasanta in northern Italy, where generations of artists have come since Michelangelo first arrived over 500 years ago to source marble for his Pietà. We are taking a break for the summer but we have already started recording new interviews and look forward to shari…