Work: Female figure

Description

“Mastrodascio concentrates to an unusual degree on the representation of women, and puts his multifaceted feminine universe on show: portraits that talk of women and young girls taken by surprise in their bewilderment or in their melancholy”, Maurizio Calvesi.

Female figure is a bronze sculpture, 65 cm high, cast by Silvio Mastrodascio in 2001. The work shows a shapely, well-proportioned, female nude who appears to be enjoying a breeze.
The young woman is standing in a relaxed pose, with her weight on her left leg and her right leg turned slightly outwards. Her arms hang down by her sides. Her hips and breasts are full. The wind has blown her thick hair backwards leaving her small round face entirely visible.

Her head is turned slightly to her left and her facial features are clearly perceptible to the touch: a high forehead, a slightly upturned nose, a half-open mouth and deep-set eyes. Her shoulder-length hair is shown as an unkempt mass. The bronze has taken on a brownish colour, with shades of green, and is mostly cold and smooth to the touch, but with some rougher areas corresponding to her hair, chest and thighs.

Even though Mastrodascio has lived and worked in Toronto for a long time, he is still deeply attached to his hometown of Cerqueto in Abruzzo. The young female figure is a frequent subject of his sculptural production. Although his subjects are often physically similar, the artist varies their poses, clothing and postures, often capturing them in habitual and everyday moments. He always maintains a certain verism and realism, even when the poses and clothing suggest classical statuary.