Graceful and flexible as a leaf of grass, light and evanescent as a floating bubble (he loves this similarity!), Gualtiero Salbego set foot in Venice, for the first time ever, in 1998, and since then he never left. At that time he was 26, and probably too shy to imagine his brilliant future as one of the finest artists in town.
Born and raised in a small village of Veneto countryside, Gualtiero lived in a family that considered job as a primary source and sent him to work right after the secondary school.
Artistically inclined, he got a job as a ceramist and spent the following 11 years employed in a factory where he couldn’t nurture his passion as he should have.
Still, in the spare time the boy used to work on various, personal creations, drawn and inspired by the nature around him. Extremely fascinated by features of the earth such as leaves, roots, branches, fragile filaments, striped barks, fossils and stones, he was also mesmerized by any water creatures: colorful anemones and meandering algae became part of his vivid imagination and endless creativity.
Tired of keeping his restless soul in captivity and frustrated by his limiting job, with a big effort Gualtiero decided to go against his parents’ will and discover his own life path. A few months later his revolutionary breakthrough, he was arranging his first lab in Venice: a 9 square meters of freedom and grace.
Nowadays, entering Gualti’s atelier-gallery it’s like walking into a white, fabolous Wunderkammer, where atypical jewels, along with fabric garnishments, are displayed in harmony with selected music and particular scents.
The artist thinks that these objects, being inspired by nature and destined to nature, should be chosen as instinctive extensions of the human body.
He believes his place, adorned with creations made of unusual materials such as synthetic resin, Swarovski crystal, nylon and aluminium, should be a souls’ meeting point. As a matter of fact, light and transparent, yet extraordinary resilient, these objects evoke the substance of the soul, which is aerial and unbreakable.
Jewels and accessories (although he hates this word, as none of his creations should be considered a complement, but an emotion!) can be customized according to the body and the personality of the client, who rarely leaves the atelier as a stranger. Surprised as I was, feeling the uncommon energy spread all over the place, I now just guess Gualti’s deepest secret resides in his short statement:
“I feel blessed, since my job gave me the opportunity to live a fairy tale and turn to be what I was as a child”. A free, transparent, perfect creature.
Have a Glass in Venice is proud to include Gualti atelier-gallery in its Dorsoduro off the beaten path tour, thought for who’s willing to explore Venice's deep essence.
For more info visit:
https://www.facebook.com/gualti.venezia/
http://www.gualti.it/
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