In this work from the Apparitions [Apparizioni] series, Crisafi molds a columnar ceramic totemic figure whose compact, continuous body suggests emergence rather than assembly. The form rises as a unified column, yet subtle modulations of relief, circular impressions, and facial features introduce internal articulation. The dark, nearly black glaze is interrupted by deep red undertones and punctuated by gold luster accents, producing a surface that oscillates between opacity and reflection. The frontal face, partially submerged within the body, appears less as a portrait than as an apparition: something glimpsed rather than fully revealed.
In this work from the Apparitions [Apparizioni] series, Crisafi molds a columnar ceramic totemic figure whose compact, continuous body suggests emergence rather than assembly. The form rises as a unified column, yet subtle modulations of relief, circular impressions, and facial features introduce internal articulation. The dark, nearly black glaze is interrupted by deep red undertones and punctuated by gold luster accents, producing a surface that oscillates between opacity and reflection. The frontal face, partially submerged within the body, appears less as a portrait than as an apparition: something glimpsed rather than fully revealed.
Rooted in the Umbrian ceramic tradition, the sculpture engages clay as a material of symbolic and alchemical density rather than descriptive modeling. The hieratic stillness and frontal authority recall Etruscan votive figures and funerary markers, where the human presence is condensed into a sign. At the same time, the dense verticality and emphasis on essential form align the work with postwar sculptural research, particularly the totemic ceramics of Mirko, in which surface, rhythm, and mass coalesce into archetypal figures. Subtle affinities with modernist reduction, including Brancusi’s pursuit of concentrated form, further situate the work within a lineage of symbolic abstraction.
Within the Apparitions series, the figure does not present itself as a stable body but as a manifestation. The face emerges from the material as if surfacing through layers of glaze and fire, reinforcing the sense of a presence that is momentary and unresolved. While Crisafi’s background in theater informs the work’s frontal address, the sculpture resists narrative or performance. Instead, it stands as an autonomous object—an apparition shaped by material intensity, ritual stillness, and the transformative unpredictability of ceramic process.
