8S26 Il lago di Massaciuccoli

XXIV Alfredo Catarsini Regional Award 2026
The memory of the territory in the Path of Catarsini’s places

Title: Tactile Interpretation of “The Lake of Massaciuccoli” (1960)

This work stems from a reinterpretation of the 1960 oil on cardboard painting “The Lake of Massaciuccoli.”

The project, assigned by the commission, required not a simple copy, but a transposition
accessible even to a blind person, through the creation of a tactile work.
I chose to reproduce the work on a 1:1 scale, thus maintaining the original dimensions, to respect the
spatial relationship between the elements and preserve the compositional balance of the painting. However, the transition from painting to sculpture required a significant reworking of the visual language.
The material used is clay, which allowed me to work on volumes and surfaces, transforming
color and brushstrokes into relief and texture. In the original work, perception is entrusted primarily
to chromatic and gestural variations; in my reinterpretation, these aspects have been translated into tactile
differences.
The scene depicts a lake landscape with a boat in the foreground and, in the background, some houses
surrounded by vegetation. To make the composition legible to the touch, I established a clear hierarchy
of planes:
The foreground, with the boat, presents more defined shapes and marked volumes, becoming the main reference
point for tactile exploration.
The middle plane, corresponding to the surface of the lake, is characterized by wavy and undulating textures that
suggest water.
The background, with the houses and vegetation, is rendered with softer and less pronounced reliefs,
while maintaining a perceptible distinction.
A fundamental aspect of the work was the simplification of visual information: complex elements and
pictorial details were synthesized into essential forms, without losing the recognizability of the scene. This
process required reflection on which characteristics were essential to communicate the image
through touch.
The work therefore presents itself as an example of translation between languages: from painting to sculpture, from
vision to touch. It’s not just about making an image accessible, but about offering an alternative experience,
in which perception passes through the hands and builds a new way of relating to
the work.