Worlds Within Webs: LEONARDO ULIAN
The Flat - Massimo Carasi
11 days left
The process of creation adopted by Leonardo Ulian (1974 - Italy/UK ) involves Symbolism, geometry, nature, sound, frontier sciences, technology, and a touch of drama all mixed together in each artefacts that this artist creates.
LEONARDO ULIAN proves the skill of a Jewels Maker combined to the spiritual approach of a Tibetan Monk. His artworks are constructions of microchips, motherboards, and transistors intricately soldered together in complex Geometric patterns.
The rigorous geometry of the structures of electronic components and copper wires soldered together becomes essential to the representation of something impalpable that, ideally, can also exist outside the materiality of the grid itself. ".....I'm intrigued by the dichotomy that thus emerges between the spiritual and archetypal realm of ancient mandalas and our contemporary technological world, as well as the possible questions that this meeting/clash can raise." The Technological Mandalas are different from regular electronic circuits. Instead of electricity, they use a 'different' power source and act as imaginary electronic devices that stimulate viewers' minds with thoughts and images. The components in these works represent the various ways in which communities, humans, things, emotions, natural phenomena, universes, and thoughts can connect, serving as metaphors for diversity and differences. "....... my Technological Mandalas are the representation of a world made of infinite connections, between people, objects, feelings, states, planets, minds..."
Technological Mandala
Technological mandala 118 - Revolution, involution (clouseup)
“…I love microchips; they were my first odd and memorable encounters when I dismantled my electric toys as a kid, true icons of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, little insect-like objects with many legs that, like black cockroaches, hide from our view but are everywhere.”
Technological Mandala 118, Revolution, involution ( 195x100x1,4 cm )
Ulian personal research delves into the theme of connections and how they intersect with contemporary rituals of destruction and reconstruction. By doing so, he creates objects that contain evocative aspects and offer alternative perspectives that may sometimes be dystopian or cast primordial and sci-fi scenarios.
Technological Mandala 165 – Nucleus, 2022, Electronic components, copper wires, mdf, 84x84x5 cm
Technological Mandala 120 - @ Sharjah Art Museum, credit Obaid AlBudoor
Technological Mandala 120 - @ Sharjah Art Museum, credit Matt McConnell
Techno Atlas
The Techno Atlas series became for Ulian a metaphor, a new vision on the world. The countless connection he creates in its maps are microcosmic systems of new macrocosmic contemporary visions. At first glance, the "Techno Atlas" artworks are reminiscent of traditional cartographic maps. However, upon closer inspection, one discovers a harmonious fusion of electronic components, microchips, and circuitry that form intricate mandalas and symmetrical patterns.
Techno atlas 018_B - Speak to me, 2022, electronic components, microchips, frame, 155x95x 5,5 cm
Ulian repurposes these technological fragments, breathing new life into them, much like an explorer mapping unexplored terrain. The circuitry and microchips, once integral to our daily lives, become the building blocks of a new visual language. By repurposing these components, Ulian invites contemplation on our relationship with technology and its evolving role in shaping our perception of the world.
electronic components, microchips and circuitry
These hybrid worlds represent a symbiotic relationship between nature and technology, suggesting that our digital age is deeply intertwined with the primal forces that have shaped humanity throughout history. In "Techno Atlas," Ulian blurs the boundaries between the natural and the technological, intertwining them in a delicate dance..
Leonardo Ulian in his studio with the commissioned Technological Mandala 90 - Garden of Eden
