ARTIST: Malena Guerrieri

MATERIALS: Canvas, pencil and pen

METHOD: Hand-drawn

DIMENSIONS: 5.5 × 7.5 in

Original preparatory studies from Malena Guerrieri's ongoing La Caprichosa series.

Before constructing each football, Guerrieri develops small-scale drawings to explore the color, rhythm, and composition of the floral patterns that will later be translated into hand-stitched leather. Each study offers a glimpse into the process behind the finished footballs and stands as a unique work in its own right.

THIS WORK WAS CREATED AS PART OF OBJECTS AT PLAY EXHIBITION. Each piece is unique in color composition, texture, and stitching variations.

ARTIST STATEMENT

"In my ceramic deflated soccer balls, I focus on the moment when an object loses its function but gains a new kind of presence. Through the change in materiality from soft to hard, the viewer gains a different perspective on a familiar object. By translating a collapsed ball into a rigid ceramic form, I highlight fragility, failure, and the quiet aftermath of play. What was once full of motion becomes a sculptural pause, an imprint of use, exhaustion, and memory held in a material that refuses to bounce back."

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Malena Guerrieri (b. 1988, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a visual artist whose practice explores material culture, craft traditions, and collective memory. Working across sculpture, installation, and participatory projects, she often uses found and discarded materials to investigate the stories embedded in everyday objects. La Caprichosa is her ongoing series centered on football as both object and cultural artifact.