Family and Work: from these two subjects the artist Guglielmo Malato had drawn his inspiration to develop his work and a project to respond to the smart order of the Company Fapim.
Many months of study, beginning with paper sketches and moving to models, then to sculptures in human dimensions, characterized by the features of all Malato's works that make him unique, are finalized in the bronze sculpture that synthesizes and harmonizes the whole process. A complex, but at the same time harmonious work, rich in symbols and meaning that go far beyond the five figures that form it: a father, a mother, a boy and two young children.

In the first stage, the artist starts by modelling the hard metallic net and, as if by magic, the figures of a boy, a man and finally a mother with two children appear.
The net softly bends to the creative manual ability of Malato and the skeleton of the sculptures is anatomically perfect and ready.

For several years now the sculptor has been experimenting with recycling materials such as, for example, decomposed paper, waterproof glue, sawdust, various colours, gold and silver: once the whole has been put into a container, Malato dips his hands into mix and unites these materials into a paste. Through this operation he obtains a new and ductile plastic material. 
This material is then applied onto the anatomic parts of the metal sculptures and here is another metamorphosis: the figures, within a metaphysical context, start living and communicating with us. Matter transforms itself into flesh, and blood seems to flow into the veins and vital organs of the figures.
The interpretative dimension has both the classic and contemporary language and the evolution of the sculpture is thus outlined.

The artist uses jeans to dress some of the characters. 
 

The first sculpture to be made is the one of the young man who has his right hand raised, almost in an attitude of blessing, and in this gesture there is concentrated all the spirituality and awareness of his becoming a man. The cap worn by the boy might be an unconscious symbol, it might signify that we want to hide something from ourselves and express only the incapability of being completely ourselves.

The sculptures by Malato are pregnant with human content, many symbols and signals act as communicative elements; for instance, the closed book that the young man has in his left hand is obviously a metaphor for knowledge but it could even be a symbol of the Universe. "Universe is a huge book" the philosopher Muhiddin Ihu Al-Arahi wrote, therefore a microcosm: the cosmic and individual intelligence. The closed book retains his secrets, like youth, that hides thoughts, feelings and emotions. 
  

In the representation of the family, near the boy there is the man. Everything is concentrated onto this figure that, metaphorically, resembles the majestic Jupiter. All rotates around him: he is maturity, wisdom and example, the great father as a reference point for the evolution of the family and especially for his children. The father has his arms open in order to welcome the children that the mother offers him: the greatest offer of love.

The woman has her breasts bared: the right one, symbol of the sun and the left one, symbol of the female moon, therefore a metaphor of fertility. The sculpture of the mother exudes strength and power, an almost masculine personality. She is the guarantor of protection, warmth, tenderness and nourishment. The long blond plait brings to mind the ripe wheat that grows from Mother-Earth and spreads with gold the fields ploughed by the work of man.
In her dignified and almost regal face you can also sense an anxiety: serenity and sorrow for these children who came to birth like angles not knowing whether life will be harsh or bright for them.

There are two young boys: the older one peeps out from behind his mother's leg and looks at his teenage brother, as if waiting for life to move towards him. The smaller one, carried in his mother's arms, watches his father and absorbs from him the light and the strength of life that the man transmits to him. In good and bad, they will both become men. The vital cycles go on: the matrix of Universe that permits the regeneration of the human being.
From the children's eyes there emanates a magic fluid: light-eyes, sky-blue, the colour that most signifies deepness. The glance pierces, meets no hindrances and is immersed in the infinite. Children embody purity; make us dream and bring a fairy tale to life.


Bruna Nocenti