Gaspare
Cusenza
founded CusenzaMarmi, an artisan company for artistic marble processing, 50 years ago. In 2016, he is among only 75 Italian artisans to be included in the golden book of Italian artisan excellence, receiving the prestigious title of master of art and craft in the presence of Head of State Sergio Mattarella. In 2019, he received the prestigious title of virtuous ambassador of the territory at the Senate.
A Life dedicated
to true craftsmanship
He was born in 1945 in the Erice countryside, a small area in western Sicily that has been a center of excellence in marble quarrying and working for centuries. It is Sicily, with its past of riches and splendor, that is the inexhaustible source of inspiration for the works of master Cusenza, who, ranging from sculptures to furniture, passing through sacred art, is literally thunderstruck by the magnificence and skillful use of colors of the Sicilian Baroque masters, and so, from this interest, was born the search for and rediscovery of ancient techniques and materials that had fallen into disuse: he rediscovers jasper and the ancient yellow of Sicily, the "embodied" stone; he revisits and reworks the Sicilian Baroque especially in the use of polychrome inlay inside churches also experimenting with the difficult technique of relief inlay. Over the years he specialized in making so-called "copies of antiquity," that is, works executed in the style of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, perfecting more and more techniques and secrets of the past.
His open-mindedness led him without delay to embrace new information technology, supported by his son, a computer expert, they decided to purchase robotic machinery for marble processing, thus expanding the company's production possibilities while reducing the time of the production stages.
Over the years, however, Master Cusenza realizes that his own experience risks a sterile end and decides to hire young apprentices to pass on the techniques and secrets of marble working, convinced that the difference lies precisely in the human value capable of exploiting new technologies to perfect his craftsmanship, with current taste, while maintaining the centrality of the human hand: thus a new figure, evolved craftsman, a fusion between the classical artist and the digital craftsman, is born.
Beauty is a delicate balance of contrasts to be skillfully dosed
- GASPARE CUSENZA
THE "BEAUTIFUL"
It thus joins the inner circle of artisans capable of evolving the concept of "made-to-measure" for an exclusive clientele, enriching it with the constant search for unique materials, workmanship, and finishes that characterize the high craftsmanship of Made in Italy excellence.
Experiments with the combined use of marble and precious materials such as gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, etc. and the juxtaposition of stone with crystal, wood, steel, ceramic, corten, etc. Aware that the use of precious metals and stones does not automatically make an object "beautiful," that without the right balance there is a risk of creating lavish objects that do not, however, possess the slightest taste.
MADE IN ITALY
Master Gaspare has always believed that beauty is a delicate balance of contrasts to be wisely dosed, and in his achievements he is always attentive to this aspect, constantly collaborating with clients to obtain, without surprises, the work that reflects the initial idea.
Among the most successful achievements are finely inlaid floorings, realizations of royal coats of arms and emblems, bathtubs entirely covered with mother-of-pearl tiles, a series of wall fountains in Sicilian Baroque style, ex novo realization of a private church in Sicilian Baroque style, design objects for the international project "The Stone House," etc.
