Untitled

Mostly working with organic materials such as grass, wood, mud/soil and rocks, Maddalena Ambrosio is interested in the transformations triggered by biological or physical phenomena, metamorphoses that organic and inorganic beings undergo in the course of their interactions. The artist explores the possibilities provided by the vitality of the materials she uses, the potentialities of transformation, and motion inherent in them, which allow her sculptures to extend/expand/change within a given space. Combining fragility and strength, her works highlight, trigger or subvert the encounters between human-made environments and objects, and natural processes.

"Untitled" is a sculptural installation consisting of a wooden chair with roots growing on its frame and legs. Referencing the tree that provided the wood for the realisation of the chair, the work confronts the inertia of a manufactured object with the vitality of a natural organism, while embodying the qualities of transformation and motion that materials most often lose when they become sculptures. The roots that extend out from the chair’s frame and legs seem to be attempting to spread throughout the space, grounding the work in the space it inhabits. "Untitled" embodies the tension between mobility and inertia, dealing in passing with issues of belonging, dwelling and transience. A functional item widely used in daily life, the chair has been employed by many contemporary artists, including Joseph Kosuth and George Brecht, in sculptures, installations and performances. Ambrosio integrates the cultural and art historical references associated with this functional object into her practice in order to reveal the inherent potentials of its raw material.