Through unusual and bizarre bodies, surreal sculpture artist Francesca’s work focuses on the issues of transformation, identity, sense of belonging, the connection between human beings, the cosmos, and the divine.
Francesca Dalla Benetta is an Italian artist specializing in surreal sculpture that puts the human condition into question. Her work is characterized by anatomies and mixed forms. She combines human faces and bodies with different textures and skins, giving birth to hybrid beings.
Francesca’s path was a bit unusual and non-linear. “I did study arts in University but after that, I‘ve been working in the movie industry for 10 years as a special makeup artist, creating monsters and dead bodies for cinema,” she says. The last movie she worked on before transitioning to her current career path was Apocalypto by Mel Gibson. Today, Francesca’s work is part of many private collections and has been reviewed by countless international newspapers, trade magazines, and television programs.
Bizarre Surreal Sculpture of Hybrid Beings
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How a sculptor was born
Francesca was born in Florence, Italy – the heart and soul of the Renaissance revolution. Her grandmother, a very knowledgeable woman, used to take her around the city museums and beautiful old churches, telling her stories about sculptors and painters from a historical point of view. “I was in awe, as a little kid, seeing all the beauty around me,” she recalls. Her parents also helped cultivate her abilities by giving her materials, time, and space to make things. “I learned to carve wood very early, and I remember always spending my time drawing or building things. All my childhood was filled with art and crafts!”
Exploring anatomy with fantastic elements
Francesca has worked continuously on different sculptures throughout her artistic journey. However, for the last four years, she’s been exploring anatomy with fantastic elements.
“Right now I’m on a commissioned work and on personal projects of a child with different kinds of interchangeable masks, a woman with interchangeable elements, and a bust with interchangeable hands,” she says. “During the last few months, I’ve been interested in interactive art. So I’m doing bronze sculptures where you can move parts and change them.”
To see Francesca’s latest sculptures, visit Saatchi Art >
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