Habitat, 2025

The work was commissioned from the artist by a private collector for the foyer of Casabianca, a villa located in Como on the lake shore, set up as an exhibition space.1
Habitat is made up of two different but complementary parts: one occupies the centre of the space and is distinguished by a concentric dynamic, while the other instead extends along the walls around that space. At the centre of the room are four plaster casts of classical busts – two of the Venus of Arles and two of the Capitoline Antinous – each of which set atop a base, constituting the median points of the four sides of a square. The figures, whose heads are tilted forward, are arranged one in front of the other, so that they are each reflected in their own double. The male figures look to the right, while the female figures look to the left, so as to create a circular movement of gazes, like a slight bowing movement and at the same time a metaphorical reference to the patrons.
Unfolding along the walls of the room is instead a regular pattern of rectangular units all of the same size, arranged in four parallel rows at equidistant intervals. The alternating elements of this composite grid consist of twelve empty gilded frames, twelve squares outlined in pencil, and seventeen gilt frames with collages made on photographs that show the patrons in their home, surrounded by mementos and artworks. The alternation of fulls and voids, virtual and real frames – like the pieces in a potentially infinite mosaic – circumscribes the central installation in a silent dialogue between images of the present and ancient sculptures.
The title Habitat evokes the private dimension, the personal nature of the work, which was specially created for the patrons and their exhibition space.

1 The villa that was acquired and remodelled by the De Santis family to host its collection was opened to the public on 27 November 2025.