Luciano Laghi

Luciano Laghi was born in 1958 in Brisighella (Ravenna). He lives and works in Fognano, near Faenza. He was awarded a diploma by the Fine Arts Academy of Bologna where he specialised in painting. He continued his studies at the ‘G. Ballardini’ Art Institute for Ceramics in Faenza, where he now teaches Ceramic Art. His work has been acknowledged in Italy and internationally.

This master ceramic artist’s signature style is the very special finish obtained from the materials used, accomplished by implementing a lengthy and complex technique. Luciano overlaps large slabs of ceramic clay; he transforms them and joins them and then finally covers them with layers and layers with the ingobbio technique, applied by brush or sprayed, or by providing a glaze using quartz sticks.

Initially, his work was inspired by the Mediterranean landscape, by the natural scenery in Italy and in the Americas, fascinated by and passionate for issues associated to architecture. Today he mainly focuses on the “human landscape”, allowing himself to be involved in the creative process through his emotions and feelings. Live edges and clear surfaces, shattered objects that are put back together, light and shadow that hide and annul each other in the repeat concave and convex shapes, generating a sort of material-based and three-dimensional abstraction: the sculptures by Luciano Laghi give a noble touch to ceramic, challenging its plasticity.