It is a sculpture but as seen by the Roman artist this object could also become a weapon!
The work, in fact, is part of a recent cycle entitled Arma Bianca, three-dimensional installations in cast bronze. For the artist, the use of the ancient technique of cire perdue to fashion a weapon is a deliberately primitive gesture, resulting in sculptures which become anthropomorphic daggers. In this work the female figure is kneeling, her long hair flowing down to become the blade of a sword. A hairclip with the Fabbri motif holds her locks in place above her forehead, whilst to the base is added an image (in photographic negative) of the weapon being gripped. The work plays upon a precise series of contrasts (solid volume/empty space; light/dark; top/bottom;
above/below; heavy/light; male/female) and is composed in such a manner that the Fabbri jar reproduced in the corner of the photograph (with a black-cherry coloured background) is protected (or threatened) by the tip of the dagger grasped by a large blu male hand.
The Fabbri logo seems to play an ambiguous role, both as prey and aggressor. However, there is nothing equivocal—or deniable—about the power of the woman’s locks, flowing together to form the blade of a sword. The hair seems to represent an insidious danger which some cultures prefer should remain veiled.