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Castellani vocalizes extensive appreciation for the artists which inspired him such as Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali and Alberto Giacometti. However, he exclaims that the most impactful element for his individuality is the support of his family; those that played a crucial element in his life and encouraged him to be the person he is.

Castellani explores the relationship between photography and pixel by deconstructing photographic images into pixels. His work represents everything that connects the artist with his life and experiences. From first glance, a few thoughts gathered in my head. I first wondered what was his idea behind untangling a person into singular thread strands; to me it suggested an element of disintegration and separation. Perhaps separation from society or the collapse of one’s self. Many ideas sparked into my head; there was definitely an echo of loneliness portrayed. With the idea of the face disintegrating, I considered the idea of one coming closer to the end of their life - quite a morbid thought. It was almost as if these portraits were a poignant reminder of passing time. However, following research of the meaning behind the work, my ideas were quite dissimilar.

One may look at his works and perceive the depiction as a melting face; however, the work is meant to represent the decomposition of a human being into wires. The reasoning behind this idea is that Castellani believes this is the meaning of life itself. ‘Life is a huge bunch of connections that have entangled and twisted our paths over the years, but the process slowly and inexorably took us to the point where we are now.’ Ultimately, Castellani’s theme and technique is an expression of the way he feels about life. As there is a lot of similarity within my project, looking at portraits that are thoroughly different was crucial for exploring my theme in great depths.

Focusing on Castellani’s digital masterpieces - from scribbles to scratches to spirals - he configures the human form in an astounding way. He indicates that everything begins from a sketch of a photograph of a particular subject. The next step is to add layers of digital paint using a variety of software to produce his masterpieces. His technique is highly consistent as each piece of work is identifiably his. He predominantly uses digital art his work currently, but when doing so he prints his work on an immense scale on canvas. Following this, he then adds pigments. The size highlights how impressive his work really is. Castellani describes the work as ‘a constant evolution and exploration of new techniques. At first, you feel fear to make mistakes but it is that process that in the end leads you to new discoveries that really counts.’

Simply from searching his work on Google, a wide range of colours is displayed, although some of his crucial works are monochrome. There is something so satisfying about looking at lines formulating into a face. The use of bold primary colours and rich skin tones on top of a block coloured background accentuates the important visual aspects of the portrait. Each individual portrait evokes different emotions, dependent on facial expressions, arrangement of thread deconstruction and the colours used.

Image credits: http://illusion.scene360.com/art/70824/marcello-castellani-portraits/