Giacomo Ravagli was born in 1981 in Italy and learned to carve marble in the sculpture workshops of Pietrasanta. He started carving as an apprentice at age eighteen and spent many years producing religious ornaments and decorations, large outdoor artworks for public spaces, and sculptures for contemporary artists, such as Louise Bourgeois. He also restored monumental pieces, including some by Henry Moore. Since 2011 he has been creating high-end furniture, ranging from unique pieces and limited editions for galleries and collectors to products for international design companies.

The foundation of Giacomo Ravagli’s practice resides on four principles - light, continuum, intensity and solitude. Light uncovers the stone’s insides, continuum denotes the prolonged, detailed process of creation, intensity conveys devotion, solitude enhances intuition and mastery. Shaping organic matter brings out the violence that is inevitable when nature is confronted by human intention to modify its default essence. The process of creation draws the artist into the battle for control with the stone.

Solitude also describes Ravagli’s meditative state in the working process adjoins the automatism of carving and problem-solving. This is when the artist makes most out of little, paying attention to every vein before cutting it open. Executed in rare marble, Ravagli’s pieces link luxury with a certain serendipity of form and play off the unique colouring of marble.

His work also alludes to heaviness and lightness and sometimes incorporates clay or metals, such as cast bronze, in addition to marble. Ravagli likes to mix architecture and sculpture. His working method is an exercise in reduction and refinement that follows a reverse design process. In short, he acts as a designer but thinks like a sculptor. His work has been exhibited internationally in galleries, museums, and art institutions, as well as at industry fairs.