Working in Pietrasanta – What it Actually Means

Every year I spend around three months in Pietrasanta, or more when working on commissions. People sometimes ask why – why not work entirely in London, why maintain the Italian connection when the logistics are considerable and the costs real.  

The answer is harder to put into words than the question suggests. Pietrasanta is not simply a place with good foundries and marble craftsman, though it is that. It is a place where the knowledge of making has been handed down through generations, where an apprentice in a marble studio has absorbed things through proximity that no course could teach, or an expert in bronze patination understand the direction you want to go in, before you have got there yourself. 

There’s an aliveness in making in Italian studios that I often cannot replicate anywhere else and the work that comes out of that is often better than the work I would have made alone – more itself, somehow, for having passed through a community of making.I often return to the following themes when working in Pietrasanta which reflects that sense of community:   

Collaboration: Obvious to many, but recently I stood in a new foundry with an expert in patination, that I hadn’t met before. He spoke no English and my Italian is moderate. We conversed humorously, but purposefully. Whilst I had a clear vision of what I wanted, I found myself naturally leaning into his decades of experience, to bring that learning to bear - my original vision meeting his much deeper technical knowledge. The outcome of course was better, perfect in fact. 

Knowledge to bear: Collaboration extends back to the marble studio. Whilst I’m experienced of course, I remain open to learning. For example, what I see in the surface of an unfamiliar marble with a rich set of movements, changes substantially underneath. Being able to bring the eyes of tradition into the stone and how these twists and turns will be seen in the final work is deeply rewarding in real conversation.  

Look and look again: What starts with a maquette or an idea becomes an exercise in persistence, often reimagining original intentions, especially with that unfamiliar marble. It can behave very differently and require collaborative understanding, especially true with more crystalline structures - because what you envisaged as a particular line or form becomes directed and often changed to allow the marble to bring itself into the work.  

Working to time with the time of others in mind: This is something I’ve learnt keenly. I always think I can achieve far more, when it often takes that bit longer. I’ve increasingly created space for this in Italy, because whilst I always have clear goals, I now anticipate new scenarios and daily shifting natures of working in studios, including in another language. I now work on an evolving sculpture in an adjacent studio so that I can manage my time, but remain close to everything else moving. This doesn’t shift a deadline substantially, it creates space and ultimately leads to far more rounded experiences.  

Community: In conversations there are always new ideas. People are always naturally, curious, open and engaging, from studio apprentices, artists, a curator through to master craftsmen. We chat, debate and find clear parallels in thinking. Interestingly of course, it’s often in community thinking that the keenest way forward is found. 

Artists working in Pietrasanta, Italy