Janus Lab Italy
The Fisherman
The Fisherman
Traces on the sand of a fisherman face
The face seeks to embody the silent visage of a fisherman—its impression left upon the sand like a fleeting memory. The lines are roughened by time, worn smooth by the tide of years. It bears a primordial air, as though one were gazing upon an ancestor emerging from the depths of the past.
Dark shadows drift across the features, veiling one side more than the other and awakening the textures of weathered skin. His eyes possess a quiet depth, refracting light from different angles and evoking a sense of layered being—of time sedimented within form.
The mixed technique combines firescale, copper oxidation, and a washed black enamel, enhancing the gold-like luster of the copper beneath. Subtle traces of silver leaf sink into the eyes, as if memory itself had settled there, gleaming faintly beneath the surface.
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Enamel - Le Grand Feu
“Smalti a Fuoco_ Un’arte di Sottecchio”
The art of fire enameling is an ancient and highly complex craft.
Rooted in precise gestures and knowledge acquired over time, it has, through the centuries, transformed simple metals—such as copper or silver—into objects of great value and artistic significance.
Today, it is largely confined to a few specialized creations and is often mistaken for industrially produced items or those made with polymer-based enamels. As a result, it remains mostly associated with traditionally styled aesthetic prototypes.
Only in rare cases has it broken free from classical aesthetics, giving rise to modern works crafted using ancient techniques—thanks to great, though now nearly forgotten, artisans.
These are the foundations of our own deeply personal journey: not only a rediscovery of enamel’s potential, but also a search for a new, contemporary language—one that reimagines how fire enameling can still express beauty and sophistication today.
The Origin of ...
 In recent years I watch with interest new discovery and speculation of history has much more to offer than the one we know. Stories of ancient civilization lost on time, where traces start to resurface now within a climate change environmental degradation both in arctic areas than equatorial rain forests. Departing from those same traces of sculped rocks represent faces and traces of ancient civilization I start to see the face of people. How to represent them. Then I started as experiment to try trace their face expression on a piece of copper and trying to sculpt the metal reproducing those same lines. The use of the hammer form the material in two ways: one one side expand and deform the surface, of the other leave traces that represent a rich texture. It was unavoidable for me to start sculpting faces of people and trying to represent facial expression. I started to explore feelings like wonder, sadness, happiness and the process it is only in its infancy. I am attracted by how ancient civilization, but more in general cultural perception tried to represent their own people. Their own culture and symbolism. That is the path in which this project is aimed.