Ricardo Masi is graduated in PUC-GO (PUC- Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás - Architecture and Urbanism), Brazil. In addition to working with architecture and design, as an artist, he abstracts from three-dimensional art to compose original works. Inspired by the traditional Japanese art of origami, he started his composition work in 2015 and since then he has flown between contemporary styles and is inspired by great Brazilian artists such as Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark.
His inspiration in Hélio Oiticica comes from his strong experimentation and determination to merge life and art, as well as overcoming the determined space of the canvas, extrapolating these limits and working with sculpture and three-dimensional works. He was also inspired by the Parangolé launched by Oiticica to integrate art with people, making them feel part of the work. This concept is found in his Arcanus mask collection, which seeks to play with an aura of mystery, use and experimentation, and launches the idea of "face sculpture", where the viewer is invited to use the object, wearing it and feeling it on the skin.
In Lygia Clark, Ricardo also reflects on three-dimensionality and the use of folds to create new effects, new spaces and shadows. He explores, like this important artist, the geometrization of forms and seeks to extend his work to a more sensory and therapeutic practice, something he believes to bring the public even closer to art.
In addition to folding paper, the artist uses various materials such as ceramic (to compose artistic panels, inspired by Athos Bulcão's tile panels) and polished resin, to sculpt illuminated works, playing with the concept of light and projection of shadows.
Also takes inspiration from literature, since 2017, it has been carrying out research on the work of italian writer Italo Calvino. Entitled Invisible Cities (the same name of the book), the collection seeks to translate words in cuts and folds on paper, reproducing the fantastic world and the metaphors described by Marco Polo to the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan.
He is currently developing a study on urban forms, decomposing satellite images of cities, aggregating the forms of squares, buildings and streets into colored compositions and testing the projection of origami shadows. The highlights of shapes and shadows appear as scales of a creature, because as the artist believes, cities are not static, but dynamic and alive.
His inspiration in Hélio Oiticica comes from his strong experimentation and determination to merge life and art, as well as overcoming the determined space of the canvas, extrapolating these limits and working with sculpture and three-dimensional works. He was also inspired by the Parangolé launched by Oiticica to integrate art with people, making them feel part of the work. This concept is found in his Arcanus mask collection, which seeks to play with an aura of mystery, use and experimentation, and launches the idea of "face sculpture", where the viewer is invited to use the object, wearing it and feeling it on the skin.
In Lygia Clark, Ricardo also reflects on three-dimensionality and the use of folds to create new effects, new spaces and shadows. He explores, like this important artist, the geometrization of forms and seeks to extend his work to a more sensory and therapeutic practice, something he believes to bring the public even closer to art.
In addition to folding paper, the artist uses various materials such as ceramic (to compose artistic panels, inspired by Athos Bulcão's tile panels) and polished resin, to sculpt illuminated works, playing with the concept of light and projection of shadows.
Also takes inspiration from literature, since 2017, it has been carrying out research on the work of italian writer Italo Calvino. Entitled Invisible Cities (the same name of the book), the collection seeks to translate words in cuts and folds on paper, reproducing the fantastic world and the metaphors described by Marco Polo to the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan.
He is currently developing a study on urban forms, decomposing satellite images of cities, aggregating the forms of squares, buildings and streets into colored compositions and testing the projection of origami shadows. The highlights of shapes and shadows appear as scales of a creature, because as the artist believes, cities are not static, but dynamic and alive.
