Marco Gastini’s work induces an emotional state comparable to what you feel in front of the sea—engrossed by a mysterious, silent, slow dynamism, overwhelmed by its energy. This concept comes from Rudi Fuchs, and it is so precise that I want to borrow it to introduce Gastini’s work. An artist who escapes definition, Gastini refers to himself as a painter. But he is also seduced by space, form, and material, and, for him, a painting is not what is represented on a canvas, a panel, or a wall, it is the energy, strain, and emotion that radiate from and around the work, its space and materials. In front of Gastini’s work, we undergo an all-absorbing experience, one involving all of our senses. It does not matter whether his works hang on the wall and invade surrounding space or if they stand on the floor and rise in unpredictable ways. Their energy always goes beyond material limits. Emotion, energy, and materials are equally important to Gastini: ideas for new works come from thoughts finding their way into existence through materials to become energy…see the entire article in the print version of July/August’s Sculpture magazine.
