Italy

There was a time in which recycling was a natural thing. Old nails were often extracted from wood and straightened when necessary with the purpose of being used again. This virtuous behavior underlined the preciousness of the object, as a recognition of the skills and time devoted to its making, thus recognizing its economic value. My nails collection is not so much a recycling operation, but instead stems from philosophical meditations on the terms “value” and “preciousness” and on work as a manual act before being considered art. In my walks in the Tuscan countryside, I often find some old rusty nails, dating back to a time that has gone. I have thus found a personal technique that allows me to cover this common non-precious metal with “pure” and “precious” gold or silver. The attempt is to restore the dignity and value of its lost preciousness, bringing attention to what is within, to the content before the preciousness of the container, so as to counteract the empty external scenography that surrounds us.

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