Massimiliano Gottardi

In Shipwrecked Voids, artist Massimiliano Gottardi explores the fragile boundary between the organic and the architectural, engaging for the first time with materials such as Jesmonite and epoxy resin. The series stems from a process of casting the inner cavity of a bell pepper—a space that, while intimate and protective, is also ephemeral. By pouring plaster into the fruit’s hollow and using the resulting form to create silicone moulds, Gottardi was able to reproduce this negative space capturing both the fragility and the permanence of the source object.

​

What drew Gottardi to Jesmonite and resin was their mnemonic quality—their ability to take the exact shape of whatever space they inhabit in liquid form, and then solidify, preserving it. The organic interior of the pepper, usually destined to decay within days, is here transformed into a lasting monument. For Gottardi, the act of translating such a fleeting, natural form into a durable sculpture is a poetic gesture: a preservation of something vital yet transient, a womb-like chamber now cast in ice-like resin or volcanic-like Jesmonite. 

This interplay of material, form, and metaphor is central to Gottardi’s wider practice, which consistently returns to themes of domesticity, enclosure, and memory. While Shipwrecked Voids might appear a departure from his larger, often architectural installations, it remains deeply rooted in his exploration of private space and everyday objects. Here, the notion of the domestic resurfaces not through human-made items, but through the interior of a fruit—reflecting on vital space as both nurturing and enclosing. The act of flooding this cavity with material evokes concrete pours and architectural casting, reinforcing the connection between themes of domesticity and architecture.

​

Though known for his large-scale installations, Gottardi moves often between formats. Small-scale objects—cups, glasses, bread—frequently appear in his work, often referencing basic human needs and rituals of consumption. Shipwrecked Voids, with its hand-held dimensions and organic origin, joins this constellation. It represents not a break from his practice, but a distillation: a moment of intimate reflection, from which larger ideas about material, memory, and meaning continue to grow.