Paola Grizi, 1968 | Surrealist sculptor

Italian sculptor Paola Grizi has spent her entire life immersed in the art world.

As the granddaughter of a well known Italian painter and sculptor and the niece of a ceramicist Piero Grizi (1885-1976), her creativity was fostered from a young age.

This has translated into a successful career as an artist, where she is particularly known for her unique terracotta and bronze sculptures.

For many years Grizi has produced incredible sculptures of faces that seem to emerge from the pages of books.

Whether sculpted in terracotta or cast in bronze, she subtly manipulates the compositions to evoke emotion.

These mysterious faces seem to appear from the ether, sometimes casting a meditative gaze and at other times lacking any eyes at all.

Grizi skillfully manipulates her mediums of choice, with her sculptures continually evolving into more complex pieces of architecture.

The pages of the books appear to get thinner as the "paper" flips and folds to create new dynamic compositions.

Interestingly, her focus on these literary pieces of art recalls her own passion for the written word—Grizi studied Classics and Italian Literature, even working as a journalist and editor prior to focusing on her art career.

She won the 3rd Biannual International Ceramic Contest of Ascoli Piceno and in 2014 and 2015 she was invited by the Chinese Chanchun Municipality to represent Italy in the third and fourth China Changchun International Ceramics Symposiums.

She also won the Special Public Award at the 35th CICA International Competition de L’Alcora in Spain and then went on to serve on the jury of the same contest in 2016.

Additionally she was chosen by the Pontifical Gregorian University in collaboration with the Kunst-Station of Köln in Germany for a Contemporary art project in the Church of Saint Peter, along with eleven other international artists.

La scultrice Italiana Paola Grizi crea sculture in bronzo incredibilmente surreali di volti umani pensierosi, sereni e contemplativi che emergono dai libri.

Paola Grizi, nata a Roma, è cresciuta in una famiglia dove l'arte è tradizione: nipote del ceramista Rodolfo Ceccaroni (1891-1983) e del pittore e scultore Piero Grizi (1885-1976) ha acquisito in famiglia la sensibilità per l'arte e ha coltivato questa passione fin dall'infanzia, parallelamente agli studi.

Laureata in Lettere, ha lavorato a lungo come giornalista.

Solo negli ultimi anni ha potuto dedicarsi a tempo pieno alla scultura.

Nel 2009 ha esposto ad Art O' a Roma, ha ottenuto a Firenze il Premio Speciale della critica al Premio Internazionale "La Pergola Arte" Piccolo Formato.