I vividly remember that makeshift market in an unknown small harbor: everything was sun, sea, light, the acrid smell of salt and sweat, the lapping of the waves, and the cries of seagulls.

A child in search of toys, I wandered curiously among the empty crates used by fishermen as minimal stalls. I knew nothing of the world, yet I could feel on my skin, as if it were part of the air itself, the dignity of those men who sold shells as if they were jewels. And they truly were! Not just in my childish eyes, because each shell was a mystery of precision and functionality. Nature accomplishes works that man often tries to imitate in their perfection.

I immediately felt it was “mine”, as if it encapsulated the meaning of a whole life: the effort of growing up, the precision of passing time, the momentum towards the ideal, the timeliness of knowledge, of competence, the value of hard work.

Indeed, that shell has become the symbol of my adult work: using natural materials with skill to extract everyday objects that serve as a bridge between the real and the imagined; interpreting tradition in a new and versatile way; seeking precise and ambitious details with elegant style and meticulous care.

At that moment, now distant, I realized that carefreeness was giving way to the determination of a man who wants to realize a dream.

–  Sandro Paradisi –