2012

1st Place recipient

Gallo, portrait

Alessandro Gallo

My work features human/animal hybrids across many media, including clay.  Animals display biological features and behavorial patterns that can be extended to humans, lending themselves to embody, humorously, the basic disposition of a person.
The past two years of my production have focused on a single piece, “Metro.”  The work represents the Northern Line of the London Underground and shows different masks of the random theater that happens between stations every day.

The number of elements that combine in “Metro” – 3 cars and 21 characters – provides a context in which my work can be read.  The associations between animals, different backgrounds, psychological inclinations, postures, and clothing’s silent language are revealed by comparing and contrasting all the different figures together.  This interaction provides a complexity that is more difficult to achieve in individual portraits.

Working on this type of project, despite all the risks or because of them, has proved beneficial both technically and professionally.