MARCELLO TOMASI

Girl with Veil

Sanguine on paper
100cm x 150cm
2017

From an encounter in a small African shop on the Indian Ocean coast with a young girl to the exploration of plastic forms, there is a synergy between iconography and three-dimensionality. A hint of metamorphosis emerges from the pastel-drawn hatching, suggesting a courageous journey toward a spiritual figure that exists between reality and imaginative inquiry.

Man in turban

Sanguine on paper
100cm x 150cm
2017

“After the mountains the sea, and it was there that I met a man with a stern gaze and lines on his face that told of a life full of happenings. He introduced himself as a police officer and asked me who I was and where I came from. I was dazzled by the sun’s reflections on the Omani’s architectures, minimalist slits with simple shapes and decorated hand-wrought metal gates. The meeting took place in a bar on the dusty road to Al-Ayjah, surrounded by goats, a cerulean sky and the sound of waves. I invited him for a coffee and his stern expression changed. After briefly explaining why I was there, I asked if I could sketch him on a small sheet of paper. Copying his face in pen on the paper was a happy return to my high school years, in the art classroom, in front of the easel, dedicated to copying from life. His curiosity was clear, and when I finished the quick sketch, I asked him for an exchange: a photograph of his portrait in exchange for the pen-and-paper copy I had just made. He accepted and, with theatrical flair, struck a mystical and profound pose. The camera advanced a frame almost automatically and captured his powerful expression on film. Something similar happened to me too. Unaware of what it was, I answered the phone and, to my surprise, said goodbye to that man. After paying the bill, I jumped into my friend Talal’s car.”