Veronica was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her mother taught drawing and painting. She learned alongside her mother’s students, discovered clay and soon started creating small animals and other subjects from nature. By the time she was a teenager it was clear that art was her path.
She came to Pietrasanta, along with childhood friend Flavia Robalo, to learn how to carve marble. They fell in love with the area and when Martin Foot introduced them to the ex-Cervietti studios they joined him there. Gradually they took over running the space and founded La Polveriera studios, known for its strong community of artists and holding special events.
La Polveriera was on the site of one of the last remaining historic studios in the centre of Pietrasanta where artisans had carved marble for more than 100 years. Franco Cervietti had his studio there for 40 years, and when he moved to bigger premises he left his large collection of historic gessos in the attic.
Veronica often creates centaurs, firstly because she loves animals and feels at one with them, secondly because she is especially fond of the centaur Chiron, who was the first educator in mythology. She often depicts children with the centaurs. Sometimes the centaurs carry the children, sometimes the children become the centaurs – gentle and sweet but also determined and independent. She is inspired by the child inside all of us, learning and moving forward, and growing with our intuition. Veronica’s most frequent themes are childhood, education and growth.
Veronica also creates paintings and sculptures of children and animals, particularly dogs.
Sadly La Polveriera studios closed at the end of 2020, but Veronica has now created her own studio space immersed in nature and next to her home where she is able to concentrate on developing her own work. Her themes are the same but she is experimenting with new techniques such as using robots and creating centaurs with very thin legs. She remains very close with her friends from La Polveriera.
Veronica was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where her mother taught drawing and painting. She learned alongside her mother’s students, discovered clay and soon started creating small animals and other subjects from nature. By the time she was a teenager it was clear that art was her path.
She came to Pietrasanta, along with childhood friend Flavia Robalo, to learn how to carve marble. They fell in love with the area and when Martin Foot introduced them to the ex-Cervietti studios they joined him there. Gradually they took over running the space and founded La Polveriera studios, known for its strong community of artists and holding special events.
La Polveriera was on the site of one of the last remaining historic studios in the centre of Pietrasanta where artisans had carved marble for more than 100 years. Franco Cervietti had his studio there for 40 years, and when he moved to bigger premises he left his large collection of historic gessos in the attic.
Veronica often creates centaurs, firstly because she loves animals and feels at one with them, secondly because she is especially fond of the centaur Chiron, who was the first educator in mythology. She often depicts children with the centaurs. Sometimes the centaurs carry the children, sometimes the children become the centaurs – gentle and sweet but also determined and independent. She is inspired by the child inside all of us, learning and moving forward, and growing with our intuition. Veronica’s most frequent themes are childhood, education and growth.
Veronica also creates paintings and sculptures of children and animals, particularly dogs.
Sadly La Polveriera studios closed at the end of 2020, but Veronica has now created her own studio space immersed in nature and next to her home where she is able to concentrate on developing her own work. Her themes are the same but she is experimenting with new techniques such as using robots and creating centaurs with very thin legs. She remains very close with her friends from La Polveriera.
A podcast where artists tell their stories through the materials they choose.
Sarah Monk:
Hi. This is Sarah with another episode of Materially Speaking, where artists tell their stories through the materials they choose. We're in the town of Pietrasanta, which until not long ago was bursting with artisans carving marble in studios along every street, where at lunchtime, dust covered artists and artisans spilled out onto the piazza to chat and eat together. The artistic community here still thrives, but it has evolved with the aging artisan population and the growth of the new technologies. And the studios have spread out too, as the town has gentrified.
Sarah Monk:
Today, I'm meeting Argentinian born artist Veronica Fonzo, who is also one of the two founders of La Polio Herrera Studios, one of the last still standing in the center of Pietrasanta, La Povelliera has a rich history and is well known for its community of artists and their special events, but it is under threat from developers. I first met Veronica before the pandemic inside La Povelliereira, then late again in the summer of twenty twenty one for an update. You'll hear both Veronica Fronzo and her childhood friend and co founder Flavia Robalo tell us about the studios. Because they preferred to do the interviews in Italian, you'll also hear Anastela, my translator.
Sarah Monk:
To find La Povea Herrera, you take the curving road behind Musa, Pietrasanta virtual museum of sculpture and architecture. And on your right, you find a large metal gate. Inside a large yard is a row of outdoor working spaces with corrugated metal walls and roofs. A row of court and plinth stand ready to display work. A small clay model has been left on a window sill.
Sarah Monk:
The yard is bursting with greenery, and there are lots of dogs. The main building has huge square frame windows adorned with ivy. And if you look up, you'll find some historic bas reliefs, classical figures depicting a scene, and a coat of arms flanked by two angels. Going inside, we meet Veronica and Flavia. To the right of their shared studio are Veronica's paintings and sculptures, sculptures, many of centaurs and children.
Sarah Monk:
To the left, Flavia's. And ahead is an ancient wooden step ladder going up to a mezzanine, packed with wooden pointing equipment and gessos of classical sculptures, which spill over the ledge and merge with the contemporary art below. Anna asked if we can talk about La Pov Rivera First and find out how they discovered the space. Flavia replies that they arrived ten years ago when the sculptor Martin Foote invited them to come and share the space with him. She and Veronica were working in different spaces at the time, but they both came to work here in what was known then as the ex Studio Cervietti, before it was called Povelliera.
Sarah Monk:
Veronica, Ana asked for a little history of the place and some background on Franco Cervietti. Veronica tells us that artisans reproducing important classical works in marble for the church and for cemeteries had worked here for more than a hundred years. Franco Cervietti had his studios here for forty years, and so in a way, it remains his place with his heart because he really grew up and did everything here. After a while, Veronica says, she and Flavia slowly took over the management of the space and shared it with others, and Franco slowly moved away. But he always had one foot here and comes to see them at least once a week because he can't break away from it.
Sarah Monk:
In fact, I know that Franco Cervietti's father opened their business in 1962, and it now lives on the outskirts of Pietrasanta in a huge space, which as well as having artisans, also houses a robot and is large enough to produce big scale works in marble. Franco is valued not only as a skilled craftsman himself, but as a keeper of Pietrasanta heritage as he has one of the biggest collections of plaster cars in Italy. With centuries old molds, including original cars belonging to Michelangelo, Canova, and Bernini. Veronica, Anna asked Veronica. Anna asked Veronica if she has an idea of how many artists have passed through the La Poveyriere over the years.
Sarah Monk:
Veronica says she doesn't know. So many have come before their arrival at La Poveyriere. Now there are 10 artists permanently here, but many more have passed through. More than 50, perhaps a hundred. Some came to work here for a week, a month, or even a year.
Sarah Monk:
Others like them arrived and without expecting to, stayed for asked about the special events
Sarah Monk:
at La Pove
Sarah Monk:
The studio hosts the best parties in town where you'll find tables heaped with delicious food prepared by the artists, Caveletti repurposed as drinks tables, magical lights in the trees, and the rich sound of laughter and music. They also host presentations of artists' work, talks, and lectures, and offer their space as a venue for events so that visitors can actually get a flavor of life inside a vibrant and historic studio. We're keen to know when the next one is. Veronica explains that they've just finished a cycle of summer events. The last one was on Saturday with a gong concert, where the idea was to say goodbye to summer.
Sarah Monk:
The next regular events will be at All Saints and again on December because of the change of every season they have a party. When Anna asked her why, Veronica says because. Because they've passed the summer, the autumn, and are starting the winter. We celebrate all that we can, she says. Celebrating means receiving the new season with new things, with all that it brings with it.
Sarah Monk:
Anna asks if they have any signs of hope for the future of La Polvia Herrera, for their presence in this special place. Veronica replies that they will surely have to leave. Unfortunately, I too had heard that pressure from neighbors about noise and dust, coupled with an irresistible offer to the current owners from developers, means this historic building will likely be converted into flats. Veronica continues that she doesn't think there's any possibility of staying much longer. La Paul Rireira, as as an entity will continue to exist because they are a group of artists that will continue to show their work and bring their art forward, but they don't know where this will happen over time.
Sarah Monk:
Anna asked them what attracted them to come to Pietrasanta among so many cities of art in the world. Veronica says that they had a teacher who was from near Pietrasanta who spoke to them about Pietrasanta for seven years. So between studies, they decided to visit to learn how marble was worked. They thought they might stay here for two months, but now they've been here for twenty two years. So perhaps I should explain that Veronica and Flavia are childhood friends from Buenos Aires.
Sarah Monk:
Flavia picks up the story and says that they'd arrived together mainly with the idea of traveling. The goal was to get to know new places to deepen their technology of working marble and understand and learn the profession. And then Flavia tells us with such warmth, Pietrasanta made us fall in love in some way because coming from a city as big as Buenos Aires, you get here. And even walking a hundred meters, you meet friends. At each corner, there is a bar, a friend, another artist, a craftsman who's taught you.
Sarah Monk:
She continues enthusiastically explaining it was all here, the raw materials, the tools, and that they wanted to work and learn. And as it's all gathered in a very small place, Flavia said it gave them security because she remembers coming to Pietrasanta and finding herself thinking that it looked like a doll's house. She found herself, like when she was little, feeling that everything was at hand, the possibilities were endless. And above all, it didn't frighten her. And I asked Veronica what the benefits are for an artist working within a community like this compared to working in their own studio detached from the rest of the world.
Sarah Monk:
Veronica says that working in a community like La Paul Vieira has many positive things and some a little less so. On the plus side, it's very nice to share problems related to work in a certain material or how to find something or how to address those insecurities everybody has when you get to almost finishing a piece and you're not sure how to solve something. Then Veronica says it's like living in a small family. It's very beautiful. And the sharing is truly enriching because everyone comes from a different point on Earth and looks at it in a different way with a completely different way of thinking.
Sarah Monk:
So having recognized the nicer side, Veronica then touches on the more complicated angle, that of concentration. Everyone has agreed it's easier to concentrate when working alone. But the energy and warmth of Paul Vieira is palpable. And Veronica concludes by saying that here, there are more possibilities and more distractions, and so sometimes one does actually work less. But it's not serious, at least not for them.
Sarah Monk:
And I asked Veronica how the beautiful dogs on the couch got to the studio. Veronica says that that more or less the same time as they arrived at La Povelliera, she decided to adopt a dog from those who'd been abused, a greyhound rescue. She'd been in Spain and had seen some unattractive things and already had the seed of an idea. When by chance, she got a call from a breeding farm in Genoa that was closing and looking for a home for greyhounds that are not Hidalgo, but smaller. So she took a little dog, and then they called again because there were two more, and so she took them all because she couldn't leave them on their own.
Sarah Monk:
They are part of her family, and she says she's a little sorry for the others in the studio because perhaps the dogs are a bit intrusive. But for the dogs, this is their home, and they're used to being here amongst artists. One of them even collects stones too. In total, La Povey Herrera has nine dogs because Veronica has four and Sebastiano has four. And there is Mimi who's not a greyhound, but is always part of the family.
Sarah Monk:
Anna asked what they feel about the transformation in recent years with the studios moving out of the city center. Flavia says that La Paul Vieira would be one of the last laboratories standing in the center of Pietrasanta. We have resisted, let's say, and have insisted on giving it life by opening it and communicating with the rest of Pietrasanta. When they arrived ten years ago, they saw Pietrasanta as it once was. But as the years went by, they saw all the changes.
Sarah Monk:
And, yes, it's sad for the history of the place, for the culture, and what there was because it gave an importance to Pietro Santa. Without studios, without marble, without artisans, without art Pietro Santa would not be called the city of art. Now there are galleries which don't necessarily represent local artists or show marble processing, and there are only a few that show marble sculptures. So this story is getting a little lost. In reality, Flavia says, Pietro Santa has changed direction.
Sarah Monk:
While before there were laboratories everywhere, now only a shadow remains, a star of what it was. It's certainly sad on the one hand. And on the other hand, one also accepts that changes happen. Veronica adds that they kept the place open to welcome tourists who are looking for the reality which no longer exists. And when they enter here, they're happy to find artists working.
Sarah Monk:
Everything moves forward, she adds, and you can't stay in the past. But I believe it's not just a question of remaining in the past, but rather an important piece of heritage being lost. Anna asked Veronica where she was born, about her childhood memories, and how she started with art. Veronica tells us that she was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. And when she was a child, her mother was a professor of drawing and painting, and so many children came to her house to draw and paint.
Sarah Monk:
So she always did it too with them because it was easiest. So it was very normal for her. Plus, she also discovered creating with clay. She started with small animal projects since animal have always been her interest, and she continued in this direction, working both in the two dimensional and three-dimensional, and particularly in nature where animals were present. Later at the age of 15, she started a school of fine arts for a few years and later shared a studio with this sculpture they mentioned earlier, who told them so much about Pietrasanta.
Sarah Monk:
And from then on, she developed her artistic path. At that point, it became clear, she says,
Sarah Monk:
that I could
Sarah Monk:
not do anything but be an artist because it was my natural path to take, and there was really no room for any other thought. We ask her what is her material of choice, and she replies that she came here for marble, and she likes marble. It's challenging because it's hard and heavy, and this, especially for a woman, makes the job difficult. She says she always really liked shaping clay. You can mold materials so easily when they're soft, like clay or wax.
Sarah Monk:
And she likes bronze too, although it has many steps and it's not a material that's worth directly. But she really likes the shaping phase, which leads to casting in bronze. So these are the materials she prefers, but she also likes to draw, to paint, to play with materials, and mix them all up. She likes to try everything she finds. Anno asks her whether she has ever been inspired by artists of the past.
Sarah Monk:
Definitely, says Veronica. I like many artists. Perhaps you may say when they appear to me, they give me a hand and are a source of inspiration. I think of Manzu, Giacometti, Rodin, even Klimt, Scheele as painters. Everyone is a little present.
Sarah Monk:
Veronica has always worked with childhood, which she says is something to be protected, and she strongly believes that education is a fundamental thing. So she works on these themes, children and education. Around Veronica's studio are many centaurs, centaurs with children sitting or standing on their backs. Some of the centaurs are themselves half child, half horse. One centaur has a child on their shoulders with arms held aloft to the sky.
Sarah Monk:
Her paintings also feature children in groups or alone, soft colors, quiet expressions, sometimes with a bird on their head. And there are also animals in drawings, paintings, and in sculptures, horses, birds, and of course, dogs. Veronica explains that she works with centaurs for two reasons. One, because she likes animals and feels at one with them. Let's say that in my imagination, there is nature.
Sarah Monk:
I've always shared a lot with nature, and I feel myself a bit as a centaur, for example. But as far as centaurs are concerned, Chiron, who was the first educator in mythology, was one of them. And so that is why he's involved in my work. Veronica continues that she always works with the same themes. There's always a bit of mythology and then a lot about observation, particularly of children.
Sarah Monk:
Many of the children she makes are representations of someone she knows, like her nephews or nieces or other relatives. So centaurs are a strong theme. Sometimes the centaurs are carrying the children. Sometimes the children become the centaurs. Their demeanor is gentle and sweet, but also determined and independent.
Sarah Monk:
Veronica says right now, her subjects are centaurs, young and older children, and there are also centaurs who carry children. The subtext, she says, is the representation of us and the child in us moving forward together. And the emphasis, above all, is that we are always children, that there is always a child inside each of us who tries to come out and manifest himself. And there are those who know that it is a bit ourselves who are moving forward that we grow with our intuition. I'm working on that a little, she says, and also with thoughts.
Sarah Monk:
For example, thoughts that fly or that grow like seedlings. So the themes in general are these, children, thoughts, growth, and education. At the moment, she's working hard on marble more than any other material because although they don't know exactly when they'll be leaving this studio, she'd like to finish using all the pieces she's collected over the years. So La Povea Herrera finally closed at the end of twenty twenty, but I knew that the story continued, so I arranged to catch up with Veronica this summer at her new workshops at her home near to Pietrasanta. A friendly dog noses at my leg before I'm even through her beautiful painted wooden gates, themselves a work of art.
Sarah Monk:
And immediately, I'm swept inside the kitchen where Veronica and her companion, along with a visiting German sculptor and child, were chatting over a large batch of tomato jam on the stove. Jam, I said, with sugar? Turns out that this is the first time she's cooked a sweet tomato jam. When there is a glut of tomatoes, it pushes your creativity. Veronica offers me tomatoes, and while I hesitate, she bundles a handful of small, deliciously sweet ones into a bag for me.
Sarah Monk:
Then she takes me round and shows me her vegetable garden, which is behind a small fairy tale gate and is in a huge circle bursting with fruit, vegetables, and flowers, all growing very naturally together. And my eye is caught by fantastic morning glory clambering wildly up and over fences, and trees giving a glorious splash of bright blue. There's a path framed by a tunneled arch, swathed with ivy and flowers, and with a stone path made from chips of marble placed sideways, created by her partner, which has a wonderfully safe feeling underfoot. This takes us down to another magical old wooden gate, which opens out onto a garden with dining table and chairs on the edge of a swirling river. No wonder she's chosen to work from here.
Sarah Monk:
We settle at the table, and the curious German boy joins us before passing on to the real attraction, the river. Soon we hear his feet drop into the water as he starts to play with the pebbles. I asked Veronica how things are now after La Paul Vieira. Is the new situation better? Yes.
Sarah Monk:
She says it is better in the sense that it is always better because one cannot live in the past. Now she works alone here, and it is very quiet. And she's finding a lot of energy for herself and for her new work. Of course, she said she loved the situation that they had in the past, but now is also good because she needed a change. I asked if she meant it was now easier to focus on her work, and she agreed because the studio was a beautiful community, she said, but there were very many things that needed to be done together to run the place.
Sarah Monk:
Now she can just think about her own work and allow it to develop. I asked her what she's working on now. Veronica says she's still working on centaurs and on children. She always works with these two themes, but now she wants to deepen them. She's trying to do more difficult things with marble, like creating centaurs with very thin legs and experimenting with the material.
Sarah Monk:
The themes are the same, but the technique is changing a bit. I ask if she's still working by hand. She says, yes, she still works by hand, but she is also trying the robot. Where there are some new techniques whereby the robots bring the work up to a certain point, and afterwards, she does the finishing. Several ideas have come to her around this, and she wants to improve and try something new.
Sarah Monk:
Finally, I ask if there's one thing she learned from the pandemic. She replies that, of course, the pandemic was brutal for many people and bad because of all that happened, but that she was able to work in this house and the garden and could reconnect with nature and with her work. So in that respect, it was okay. She repeats my question thoughtfully. Finally, she answers more personally.
Sarah Monk:
For me, it reinforced the idea that all changes are good. Also, I've learned to be alone and that being alone is okay. It's a good thing to help you grow. But Veronica is never alone for long. A cat hops onto her lap and shows a keen interest in my microphone.
Sarah Monk:
She's a 12 year old called Rodriguez. Rodriguez. Rodriguez. So thanks to Veronica Fonzo. You can see her work on her Instagram at Veronica Fonzo or on her website veronicafonzo.com.
Sarah Monk:
And thanks to you for listening. As with all episodes, you can find photographs of the work discussed on our website, materiallyspeaking.com, or on Instagram. If you're enjoying Materially Speaking, subscribe to our newsletter via our website so we can let you know when the next episode goes live.