A little Ligabue

Catherine Marinelli lives and works in Piazzo di Segonzano, where she is part of the local community, and where she is considered their local “heritage”. She was just 11 years old when her paintings with animal subjects appeared in her first exhibition in Quarto di Genova, from which she earned the nickname “the little Ligabue”.

After breaking her leg, she approached sculpture as a self-learner; she then had access to several masters, both in Genoa and in Trento. Attending “La finestra” (which is a joint Department of the University of Verona), under the guidance of Mauro De Carli, was especially important for her, since she made friends there with Rodolfo Carpigo, who would later introduce her to Daniela Rosi, who is the dean of the National Observatory of Outsider Art.

Her artistic inclination is total: it ranges from sculpture to music, from wood carving to mosaic, from painting to photography. Her sketchbooks are also noteworthy: she always takes them with her, and in them she records what strikes her, or some  imagined formal syncretisms. Her favourite subjects are dogs - with them she has such a deep emotional bond, that she nearly identifies herself with them.

Her terracotta sculptures representing the dog in all its expressions, are endowed with extraordinary strength and were made thanks to the artist’s extensive knowledge of anatomy, since Caterina has also got a diploma in taxidermy.

Her terracotta dogs perform all their natural functions: playing, nursing, fighting, sleeping, squirming, curling up, defecating and cleaning themselves, living and dying.

Some other sculptures are more surreal and ironic, thus they portray dogs beneath an X-ray device, dogs being transported on a stretcher, or driving a train.

Besides this type of expressive ability, which is really unique, Marinelli has also revealed a remarkable musical talent. She started playing the piano, then the trumpet and the trombone; her favourite instrument, though, is the organ, which is there, in her house, and for which she has also composed some sonatas of “musica trenica”(“train music”); these were also performed in public.

During her train trips from Trento to Malé and back, sitting in the locomotive cab, Caterina (known professionally as Gaeta) used to observe the train’s control desk; its sounds and its motive power impressed and fascinated her. She made friends with the train driver, and little by little she turned every sound into music…

After a serious car accident which caused the death of her step mother, Marinelli started her way of self expression in the context of emergency medical help. She has created a series of extraordinary works that explore the first-aiders’ point of view; in fact she is a volunteer emergency rescuer for the local association “Stella Bianca” based in Segonzano.

This is one of her most beloved commitments, to which she devotes all herself. She has created a series of works on this subject, mostly oil paintings; as a matter of fact, such issues are disturbing and fascinating at the same time.

In a word, Caterina Marinelli is a complete artist; she’s one of a kind. Her creativity goes far beyond what most normal people can imagine: she elaborates everything she sees.

Most of the furniture, furnishings and lamps in her house are her production. Her creativity is absolutely overflowing, uncontrollable. You can not look at her works without a sense of wonder – which is what pure Art always claims.