Luca Ceccherini in his studio © Davide D’Ambra

At the core of Luca Ceccherini’s painting lies the landscape, deconstructed into its smallest components: tree trunks, roots, and foliage scattered across the ground. These seemingly secondary details coalesce to form a cohesive whole, serving as the very foundation of the painting. The backgrounds are dense, wooded scenes, composed of lush vegetation, a color palette of such depth that it almost envelops the figures.

Ceccherini’s pictorial process introduces a unique reversal. His works are created from oil painting onto which he applies graphite, challenging the traditional pictorial approach. This technique imparts an almost mineral quality to the surface, with the graphite generating a distinctive luminosity. The chiaroscuro re-emerges, allowing drawing to reclaim its structuring role.

Ceccherini’s works do not lend themselves to a single interpretation: they invite close observation and a gradual discovery of details. His ability to create an atmosphere allows for an instinctive reading of his paintings, whilst his work inhabits a fruitful tension between past and present. A timeless space unfolds, in which the narrative speaks directly to our social behaviours.