Snowboard instructor when needed, Ciot seeks his own freedom by combining painting and crode. “I use bottles that taste like corks: I boil it for the dark tones, water it down for the light ones”
THE CHARACTER
A passion for painting cultivated since childhood up to the “illumination” of today: Gabriele Ciot creates paintings using wine instead of ink. A methodology as innovative as it is curious, experimented in his Cortina where he lives giving ample vent to his creativity, alternating it if necessary with the work of a snowboard instructor. Thirty-four years old, in Gabriele’s life painting and mountains run parallel in the name of a longed-for search for freedom.
«My brother Mauro handed down my passion for painting to me», he says, «when I was little I used to see him draw. He must have started it all there. “
Watercolors, inks of various kinds, then the intuition of using wine.
«A wine shop had commissioned me to make some paintings. On that occasion I was reminded of an event of the 90s in which some artists were invited who tried their hand at making paintings with wine. I took up that idea, shaping it on the basis of my experiences ».
In words everything is easy, but in reality how do you paint a picture with wine?
“I boil it for dark colors. I really like contrasts and the wine offers some exceptional ones. And if I need to get lighter colors, I add water. The choice of wine is not linked to its qualities. However, I am not an expert in the sector, I must admit. For this reason I use those who taste like corks … The difference of the work on canvas is not given by the quality of the wine but by the color. It must be said, however, that the perfume emanating from a painting painted with wine is entrancing ».
All Gabriele’s paintings are mountain landscapes …
«The mountain landscape drives me crazy, inspiring most of the jobs I undertake on a daily basis. I make commissioned paintings, many of which then find space on the local market. Some I exhibit for example in the rooms of the Sovilla bookshop, along Corso Italia. I recently did an exhibition in Padua. However, I don’t make any painting. I have to review myself in what is required of me. This is why I feel very attached to works that concern the mountains of my home. Not the concept of mountains in general, but those of home, which I know best and which I frequent as a passionate and snowboard instructor. The mountain gives a strong sense of freedom, just like painting. They are both, for me, the maximum expression of freedom ».
Is there a painting you feel more connected to?
«I would say no, I am tied to the final result. A completed painting offers indescribable moments of emotion, one of a kind. In these days I have completed a painting depicting the Pelmo. I made it in collaboration, the first case of my experience, with a local winery. I thank Giulia and Adriano De Martin, as well as my mutual friend Alex who acted as an intermediary since, as mentioned, I am not an expert in the sector. They made available to me some of their bottles of wine, moreover fine, with which I gave vent to my inspiration.I give a picture on Mount Pelmo, also intended as a meeting place between me who are from Cortina and them who grew up between Vodo and San Vito ».Gianluca De Rosa
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