For Tavo

My work is born at the intersection of woodcarving and the daily resistance imposed by Parkinson’s. Through a slow and traditional practice, I transform the tremor into a conscious trace. I use reclaimed poplar and production scraps to give shape to a mouth that simultaneously protects and threatens its own tongue—a tribute to Tavo Burat, a Biellese environmentalist and intellectual who fought to safeguard the Piedmontese language.

For Burat the dialect and the phrase “Lassumse nen taje la lenga” (Don’t let them cut our tongue) are not folklore, but the final bulwark against the “anthropological mutation” of consumer society. The “tongue” I defend is a biological border: a refusal to be deprived of the ability to express myself or to succumb to silence. Where the pathology threatens control, my chisel reaffirms the precision of intent, ennobling waste with silver leaf to transform fragility into a cry of freedom.

“For Tavo” by Ettore Macchieraldo (Maketto), 2025, carved poplar laminates, 32 x 30 cm, transforms the challenge of Parkinson’s into artistic resilience. The carving, between radical design and reclamation, defends the “tongue” as biological and cultural identity, honoring an environmental activist Tavo Burat from Biella. The manual dexterity controlling the chisel is both a therapeutic and artistic act. Through humble materials ennobled by silver leaf, the tremor becomes a conscious trace.