Michele Tombolini’s works involve a combination of different techniques, patterns and prints. In the work on the left, there is juxtaposition between the dark, gloomy little girl to the vibrant, dynamic, backdrop. She is frail and broken. Unable to speak, she tries to relay a message on how we are all broken someway, somehow. We all go through such, yet one must not forget about the beauty that lies beyond. The attention is drawn towards what surrounds. There are beautiful elements in the background – butterflies, flowers – these symbols of life and of hope.
His work offers a gritty and intimidate glance into his views and stance. In what is initially seen as a dystopic and dilapidated series, Tombolini surprises us with his insightful and poetic expression. These characters are almost always women, but are not represented with their erotic or feminine side, but rather as an epitome of creative sensibility generated and shared by women.
Full of life and irony, Tombolini explains how he always searched for intimate and public dimensions even in his workplace, while dedicating time and energy to the upkeep of his own studio and that of his host – the industrial area.
Comparable to the philosopher Heidegger, Tombolini transforms the anguish of death into praise for the quintessence of life. This awareness of our finitude allows us to enhance and enjoy our being in the world.
Tombolini participated in the 2013 “Personal structures: Time, Space and Existence”, part of the official 55th Venice Biennale
