Antonella Rocca, 34, moved from a tiny Italian village in Calabria to Sudbury last year.
Since arriving, she's delved into learning a new language, embracing new cultures and carving out a home here in Sudbury for herself and her family.
While Rocca sought to build a new life here, she had to temporarily set her art aside. But, as her roots began to take hold, she was able to re-fire up her blow torch and create new sculptures shaped by her Northern Ontario experiences.
The artist presents an exhibit called “Ri-posate idee” at One Sky Gallery (125 Durham St.) until July 2.
Rocca takes common, everyday items like cutlery and glass bottles and then through the use of heat and force, reshapes them into works of art.
"I destroy matter to build a new form. The glasses, bottles or containers I use are a symbol of something to fill. Life is a bottle and we need to choose what we put into it," Rocca said. "Like our life, my art work creates points of light and shadows."
"Ri-posate idee" is a clever play on words in Italian. Loosely translated, posate in italian means cutlery, her main medium. Riposare is to rest, and posare is to place.
For Rocca, it represents the hiatus she took from creating to allow her new environment to percolate with the experience she carries with her from her life back in Italy.
"I carried ideas from Italy to here and now they have a new place. The exhibit to me was a restart in a new life, without losing myself."
One Sky is open Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed Sunday and Monday. It's open again for the exhibit's final day on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
