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Pier Toffoletti was born in the province of Udine, Italy, in 1957. Pier's passion for art was obvious from a very early age, and his family quickly realized he had inherited his grandfather's artistic talent. After completing middle school, Pier enrolled at the Art College in Udine, where he began studying the classics, creating some of Michelangelo's masterpieces in various techniques. While he was a student, Pier was also attracted to Eastern philosophies, in particular yoga, a discipline that would absorb him for seven years as a teacher of Hatha Yoga. It was at this time, he twice went to France, where he was initiated into the first stages of the elevation of the spirit. In 1978, Pier opened a graphic design and advertising film production studio. Painting was relegated to his spare time. At this time he also pursued his hobby of cave exploration, and his bond with nature became stronger. He became familiar especially with "the rock", the walls of the caves; it was in the "womb of Mother Earth" that he lived his most profound experiences. After life changing expeditions in Central and South America, Pier realized his life had become too wrapped up in work and he decided to devote himself entirely to painting. Pier felt a strong, irresistible need to recreate natural surfaces that would resemble the slabs of scarred and "graffitied" rough stone that made such an impression during his cave exploration days. Pier struggled to merge his classical figures onto his distressed surfaces, searching for the perfect balance of nature and art. His subjects appear to be carved into or emanate from stone. His surfaces are comprised of powdered marble, dust, clay and sand and his method for making the grounds for his works is complex: layering plaster onto a board, and while still fresh, incising carvings and building reliefs. When the plaster is dry, he starts creating "clears and darks" using water based colors, recreating effects that one sees in frescoes. He then defines the subject using oil based colors, and the results are...magical. |