Inside Flacido Placido’s soft, naive and joyful plasticine playground

Up until quite recently, Luca Bortolato hadn’t really given drawing too much thought. After completing his graphic design degree and following the commonly trodden path of working in-house at a studio, the artist eventually had a change of heart. “Four years ago, I felt the need to find a new way to express myself and something that would make me happy, so I started drawing,” he says.

From his base in Veneto in northern Italy, the multidisciplinary artist is trying his hand at just about everything, from illustration, plasticine modelling and animation to 3D character design and even rug making, all under the moniker of Flacido Placido. Born out of this desire to create some joy, Luca has found numerous therapeutic effects to this ritual of drawing and all the other offshoots of his practice that have come with it. He says: “Drawing has helped me get to know myself better and connect with my thoughts and emotions, influenced by a somewhat traumatic childhood. Perhaps for this reason, I often approach topics with irony and a childlike style [...] drawing has helped me a lot to make light of the events I have experienced.”

Luca’s soft, naive style and humorous characters and sculptures are made through an intuitive process. “I usually start my work by sketching out a concept on paper, and from there, I try to figure out which material best suits the development of that idea,” he says. “I use a wide variety of materials, such as spray paint, felt, papier-mâché, and modelling clay.” After some hands-on play, he then goes on to create his animations in After Effects to bring his funny, squidgy characters to life – “never quite knowing exactly what the final results will be”.