Dietro di me is a larger-than-life sculpture of a man or, rather, a series of cross-sections of a man glazed onto a number of sheets of structural glass. From the front and back we see the changing, three-dimensional shape of man much as we see the geographical contours of hills in an ordnance survey map. The resonance of such features in Colletta's hilly landscape is profound: the work of art echoes and is in perfect harmony with the topography it resides in. Viewing this sculpture from the sides, the man almost magically disappears: we see through the glass and the spaces either side of the individual sheets of glass to the trees that surround the glade the sculpture stands in. Man as geography and man in landscape is visible and then invisible depending on your point of view.
The inspiration for the sculpture is closer to home. 'Dietro di me' represents the way a child perceives parental support. As you move around the piece, you are presented with different images of a father figure, from present and solid on occasions to ephemeral and absent altogether on others, reflecting those times when even the most supportive parent is not there and one learns to be alone.
Sunday, April 8, 2012 at 2:05AM