To the Italian artist Christian Verginer, his artistic vocabulary has always been orbiting around the relationship between man and nature, as a non-static on-going theme, which he believes will follow him throughout his career.

an article written by Carmen Line Hust
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To the Italian artist Christian Verginer (b. 1982) there’s no need for a precise push generated by something or something, to maintain his creative drive. Verginer is driven by the set of many small pushes. To Verginer, the surrounding world transmits sensations and moods, pushing humanity to make certain decisions, observations and considerations. As in common life, the same applies in art and in the language of art.

Christian Verginer absorbs and observes the world surrounding us, which encourages him in the development of his artistic language. To Verginer, his artistic vocabulary has always been orbiting around the relationship between man and nature. A non-static on-going theme, which he believes will follow him throughout his career.

In some of his sculptures, Verginer expresses the man - nature relationship as a mere synonym of friendship, while in other sculptures the relationship is synonymous with conflict or extraneous correlation.
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The ideas of Verginer are non-dynamic and potentially arise at any moment, during a trip to the mountains, while resting on the sofa, but also while working. Verginer has a very precise idea in mind, which rarely evolves during the creative process. Aesthetically the sculpture may change slightly, while the message and the idea remain the same.

While working almost exclusively in linden wood, Verginer uses bronze when a sculpture is placed outdoor in order to preserve its texture and details. Verginer grew up in a 500 year long tradition of sacral carving in wood, from which he became comfortable with the material and the expressions that are offered by this classical technique. With wood, Verginer feels comfortable and free to express himself.

To Verginer, no work emerges by its own - each work is precisely thought through. Yet, sometimes an idea of a new sculpture emerges, while working on another. Ideas are almost always born in the head, rarely on a sheet of paper. I must say that the ideas that arise are often very precise. Of course, not all of them are suitable for sculpture and are therefore discarded. Other ideas perhaps in the first moment are discarded because they are not yet mature, Verginer explains. I must say that sometimes it takes even more than a month to sculpt a sculpture, so during the work phase you have a lot of time to think, there is a lot of time for new ideas. Naturally many ideas arise. Logical that many ideas are discarded and only the very convincing ones are transformed into sculptures. The ideas that best express the message I want to give are chosen, the others are discarded, but this does not mean that the currently unconvincing ideas are forgotten. As they mature and change, sometimes a valid message is born.

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Who influences me in my work is nature.
It is to her that I pay the most attention.

Christian Verginer is influenced and affected indirectly by everything he sees. This potentially sprouts from watching an exhibition, looking at photos of works or looking at social networks like instagram, giving him a spark for new ideas.

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ARTICULATE 35 [perfect imperfections], is a magazine of contemporary art, packed with 80 pages of high quality content, showcasing the work of 6 professional artists, featuring the American artist Megan Elizabeth Read, the Italian sculpture artist Christian Verginer, Danish ceramic artist Rikke Laursen, German-Ukrainian creative photographer Alina Gross, digital collage artist Nina Barnini and the Danish sculptural installation artist Lene Winther.

This interview with Christian Verginer is part of the 34th magazine, ARTICULATE #35 | perfect imperfections. Read, download or order your print version of the full publication below.