Soul of the World in a Sphere

Italian-Canadian artist Silvio Mastrodascio shows works in exhibition in Friuli

Thirty-eight works of art that try to explain a material philosophy permeated - the artist claims - of a pantheism typical of the culture of India, in the perennial search for a symbolism that could fully unveil secrets that words alone are powerless to describe.
From the commonplace to the metaphysical, from the hyperborean to the empirical, the universe of Silvio Mastrodascio (originally from Cerqueto in Abruzzi), one of the most successful Italian-Canadian sculptors, is in a constant state of evolution, almost as if in testimony to the inexpressible conflict underlying it.
These 38 artworks are "the mirror of my life", he says; until July 12 they will be on exhibit at Villa Manin in Passariano, one of the most beautiful historical houses in Friuli, near Codroipo.
The exhibition will present, in addition to the traditional sculptures of female figures ("symbolizing eternal maternity, love and care"), a "taste" of the artist's new expressions. This is embodied by the "Spheres", the tangible signs of Silvio Mastrodascio's "philosophical" outlook.
A backwards path for this sculptor, who never surrenders to the seduction of the shadows and adopts a two-pronged approach: Indian philosophy, and the disquieting mystery of Genesis. His bronze Spheres, in fact, revolve physically around these fundamental pivots, in a quasi-mathematical pendulum, constricted between the twin inevitabilities of birth and destiny, showing the human race in all its shapes. "One of the Spheres," says Mastrodascio, "tries and expresses exactly this idea: from inside the geometric solid, 15 human faces appear, belonging to the most diverse ethnic group and ages."
The artist goes even further, though, with another Sphere, inspired by the Hindu - but also Platonic - concept of the transmigration of souls. As the vehicle of this metempsychosis, the artist chose what he calls the liaison between the sky and the earth: trees. "Souls pass through them," he says, "and choose bodies." Based on what? That's the mystery of life, and possibly of art as well.
After attending the University of Rome, Faculty of Demographic Sciences, Mastrodascio moved to Canada, first to Montreal then to Toronto, where he got a honours degree at the Fine Arts Academy. His sculptures in polychrome bronze can be found in numerous galleries and collections.

Publication Date: 2003-06-22
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