Robert Lazzarini


Max Henry: Your distorted, still life sculptures provoke an unsettling effect; they remind me of objects found in the room of a crime scene. You have mentioned how aspects of forensic science lie at the root of your work, and you have talked about the formalist principles you adhere to as well. If we toss aside all this intellectual reasoning, however, what remains is a recognizable object that has become something other than it is; something quite haunting.
Robert Lazzarini: The idea that something is a distortion of itself is disturbing: the example that springs to mind is a psychopath. I’m interested in the emotional capacity of an object. The object as specter is pertinent on several levels in my work. First, it relates to the history of still life as memento mori. Second, when an object passes from use, the memory of it is elusive. I am trying to explore that elusiveness in formal terms.
Max Henry: As we move into the twenty-first century, there are several painters utilizing some form of technology in tandem with traditional tools. It’s a really intriguing moment (as the passage from one century to another always has been), because the term “digital” no longer applies just to new media or video, but encompasses painting and sculpture as well…


The full text is published in "tema celeste" No. 83, January-February 2001.




Max Henry