Giampaolo Mameli | Vetrine dell'Artigiano Artistico

Giampaolo Mameli

Closed rocking horse

Inspired in its playful forms by the rocking horses in painted wood, these small ceramic sculptures are characterised by the prized stylistic synthesis emphasised by full and monochromatic glazing, enriched by few fabric, leather and gold leaf elements.

Giampaolo Mameli|San Sperate
Bulls

The Bulls belong to a collection inspired by the study of the Bull God, being the symbol of the vital force giving life and fecundating earth, and explicit reference to the figurative elements found in the Sardinian burial grounds, dating back to the pre-Nuragic age.

Giampaolo Mameli|San Sperate
Mater Tonda

The soft forms of this ceramic sculpture tell millennium-old stories, taken from the archaic pre-Nuragic culture with plastic and expressive trait, which evoke the female figure intended as a goddess symbolising fertility.

Giampaolo Mameli|San Sperate
Pomegranate

The pomegranate, a captivating fruit of fine beauty and ancient well-wishing symbology, is crafted with original trait and an eye-catching choice of colours.

Giampaolo Mameli|San Sperate
Mater Ritta

The stylised forms of this ceramic sculpture tell millennium-old stories, taken from the archaic pre-Nuragic culture with plastic and expressive trait, which evoke the female figure intended as a goddess symbolising fertility.

Giampaolo Mameli|San Sperate

The artisan

Giampaolo Mameli graduated at the Liceo Artistico Statale di Cagliari. The study of the paleo-Sardinian language and Nuragic culture, and the relationship between the gods and nature, is the basis of his reinterpretation of symbolic figures and rock graffiti of Mediterranean prehistory. He reinterpretes the images of the Bull God and the Mother Goddess, archetypal figures of earthly fertility and vitality, drawing shapes and patterns that make up the core of his best-known ceramics production. Strongly evocative formal choices and expressive synthesis takes him to find unusual stylistic solutions: he reinterprets classic models, applying decorations on dense or monochromatic surfaces. Vibrant metal glows. His ceramics are found in many museums and public and private collections.

The collection

Through often experimental techniques, Giampaolo Mameli uses a very personal jargon made of furniture collections and art works. A collection is dedicated to the Mother Goddess and the Bull God, created with an absolute-black bucchero, a technique that is also featured in the Ciottoli, Sfere and Nur collections. Two collections, Pesci and Frammenti, feature the Raku technique, where refined colours introduce a harmonious, bright polychromy, the result of a unique and happy contamination of contemporary taste with the deepest roots of our culture.

The technique

Different and original pottery pieces characterise the production by Giampaolo Mameli. First on all, the bucchero technique, skilfully performed, applied in a charming glossy ("a stralucido") version, which gives life to naturally polished surfaces, covered by neat linear marks. They underline the background surfaces, writings and incisions, with a vibrating monochrome black, sometimes decorated with a by gilt leaf inserts. The Raku technique is used with a personal touch; variations enhance the materiality of surfaces through the contrast of primary colours, or the introduction of lavish refined polychromy.