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of themes, which he had already developed in painting. a relationship with that primal element. From those
The field is now the surface of the vases, which are years on, it orients him toward his vocation, becoming
invaded by his usual pictorial narratives: the parade of the substance that gives physicality to his work and his
steeds in geometric forms, the little horses with wheels, vast inventiveness.
and still again, the legendary figures of winged “putti”, At the beginning of the 1990’s, the direction that his
the “pucinellas” and the dolls. These images constitute work will take is beginning to be defined, destined to
the base of a multitude of decorations, which are always guide him toward the inventiveness and creativity of his
refined, light and playful. The images are repeated artistic maturity, that is still in full force today.
in numerous variations, and Staccioli adapts them to Having set up a small studio next to his home, Staccioli
the different forms of his vases. They are distributed begins to experiment, alone, on a way to free himself
across the surface in a manner that recalls the tonal from the generative dialectic of earth and fire. Above
refinement of his paintings. He tries to remain faithful all, he dedicates himself to perfecting his technique of
to the synthetic construction of those works. Luminous luster glazes, which recall the fundamentals he gratefully
arabesques run across the delicate skin-like surfaces like learned in Faenza. Thanks to a constant diligence (we
notes on a musical score, crowding and filling every can say, from these years on that he is self taught) he
void. gradually developed the formulas that permitted him to
This initial production in clay, created with the achieve energetically iridescent results, arrived at by a
technique of vitrified glazing (the development of the well-studied use of copper oxides.
“reduction” technique was still in its initial phases), In his studio, he begins to produce the vases and
was made while he was still in Faenza, in Santandrea’s small sculptures with skin-like surfaces characterized
workshop. It is testimony to an artist who is fascinated by the strong metallic effects, that we know so well
with a vivaciousness and inventive immediacy (and today. They are produce by introducing smoke into
to the breadth of his expressive potential), but who is the kiln, so that the atmosphere in reduced (thus the
still in search of autonomy in regards to the planning term “reduction). This means that the atmosphere is
and carrying out of the works. And yet, we can well essentially without oxygen. He enthusiastically follows
understand the importance of this moment. The years each phase of his creative labors. Daily studying of the
he spent in Faenza were necessary for Staccioli to realize firing process allowed him to master the subtleties and
how the immediacy and the variety of the finished tricks that every capable ceramist masters, so as not to
forms, which comprise the expressive ceramic universe, permit the fire to destroy his work, and on the contrary,
were married to his own sensibilities. He began to to render them luminous and precious. This technical
consider this very ancient technique as a living place, process, even today, preserves its rigorous rituality: the
as an imaginative domain where he could finally bring phases of modeling, waiting, and the final wager, which
to fruition his “formal” dream. All this is thanks to the is the unforeseeable action of the firing.
manipulation of an inexhaustible material: earth. Staccioli explores the inner dynamics of color, intended
In other words, he realized that the essential condition as a germinating spark. The chromatic transparencies,
for an artist, who doesn’t want to relegate his creativity to reacting to the pulsating light, pass through the surface
an ephemeral moment, a fleeting whim, is to encounter and act in the depths of the material. The glaze allows
the physical element that can nourish him, provide him the light and reflections to flow through its structure,
with rules and offer him its intrinsic poetic qualities. maintaining its reverberating radiation, creating
Nothing else could have done this for Staccioli except unending tonal overlays, and resulting in an epiphany of
earth, from which previous generations gleaned their burning, captivating landscapes of colorful oxymorons.
very sustenance. Plunging his hands into that material In these first years, what interested the artist was finding
repeatedly, Staccioli takes possession those presences, ever-new combinations of glaze formulas that could
that time dispersed, and retrieves their vitality, that animate the surfaces when illuminated. Staccioli’s
had silently fallen into an apparently inanimate cavity. ceramic world is rich in interesting and continually
Aside from rhetorical cultural theorems, which would be repeated explorations. It’s a world cohabitated,
misleading to consider in the analysis of his personality, analogically, by the fire that creates it, by iridescent
Staccioli rediscovers, within this earth culture, a bond substances and by the luminous vibrations, reflections,
with his biographical ascendancy. He proudly reacquires and color that permeate it.

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