Turning Tide

Turning Tide

Turning Tide

By: Franco Antonio Pagliari, 2001
Medium: cast bronze
Size: 80mm
Cast by: Falmouth College of Art
Issue: The Medal, no. 41 (2002)
Edition: 29

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Franco Antonio Pagliari studied Italian language and literature at Edinburgh University from 1986 to 1990, before working as a broker in the 1990s. In 2000 he left the financial world to study art in Inverness, and he is now studying for his B.A. at Falmouth College of Arts. In 2002 his medal, Turning Tide, won the BAMS Student Medal Project grand first prize, a prize sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Founders and presented for the best overall use of the medallic medium. This medal is now being issued by the Society. The artist writes: ‘The initial idea for the medal came about through some close-up photographs I had taken of worm casts on the tidal sand bar near my home in Scotland. I was fascinated by the delicate forms of these tiny natural sculptures, the smoothness of the sand waves and the indentation made by the entry hole to the worm’s lair. I then thought of these small “homes” being covered and revealed again during the turning of the tides. This pointed to a dialogue between these sculptural creations and a moving natural force, which I wanted to explore. I discovered that each face of the medal refers itself back to the other continually. Just like the continuous action of the tide, there is no ending. The circular form of the medal supports this idea, and in holding and turning the medal in the hand, one may become aware of the immutability of some things in a constantly changing world.’ In the catalogue of the 2002 Student Medal Project, Marcy Leavitt Bourne adds: ‘Turning Tide is a medal that skilfully handles contrasts in textures and in perspective, as well as evoking a shared sense of discovery.