Crisalidi is a project by the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome, curated by Marcello Smarrelli and supported by the Italian Council programme (6th edition, 2019). The final results of the project will be presented at the Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci.

The project was born out of Siedlecki's interest in the development of sculpture in different eras and cultures, also through its technical aspects, which very often have a decisive influence on the form of the works. This process began during his stay in Kathmandu, where the artist was able to test and develop the Nepalese technique of wax casting.

Namsal Siedlecki, in collaboration with local craftsmen and foundries, created a series of bronze sculptures using moulds used to assemble votive statues associated with Nepalese religious cults. These sculptures, almost unfinished, with a strong and primitive expressiveness, appear as undefined magma masses, free from proportional canons, from precise anatomical references, which nevertheless retain a connection to Buddhist and Hindu religious iconography, while recalling the archaic aesthetics of early 20th century sculpture.

The exhibition Mvaḥ Chā, to which the lecture relates, opened in January at Patan Museum (Kathmandu, Nepal) and is supported by the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in collaboration with the Siddhartha Arts Foundation.

Namsal SIedlecki was born in 1986 in Greenfield (USA). He lives and works in Seggiano (GR). In 2015 he won the fourth edition of the Moroso Prize and the Cy Twombly Italian Affiliated Fellow in Visual Arts at the American Academy in Rome; in 2019 he won the Club Gamec Prize and the Cairo Prize. Over the past few years his art has been exhibited in several national and international institutions including: W Extenso, Clermont-Ferrand; MAXXI in Rome; Villa Medici, Rome; Luigi Pecco Contemporary Art Centre, Prato; Galeria Boavista, Lisboa; Villa Romana, Florence; Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, Turin; 6th Moscow International Biennial of Young Art, Moscow; Chertludde, Berlin; Magazzino, Rome; American Academy in Rome; Museo Apparente, Naples; Fondazione Pastificio Cererere, Rome; Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation, Venezia; Antinori Art Project, Bargino; Galeria Madragoa, Lisbon; Frankfurt am Main, Berlin; Cripta747, Turin. From 2008 to 2013 he managed GUM's independent studio space, first in Carrara and then in Turin.

www.namsalsiedlecki.com