Pencils have been associated with art for hundreds of years, but it is only recently that they have been used for sculptures rather than to draw with. Artist Dalton Ghetti, a Brazilian native now living in Bridgeport, CT, has been carving miniature sculptures into the graphite of pencils since he was a school boy in Brazil. However, he makes a living as a carpenter. He received his associate’s degree in architecture from Norwalk Community Technical College. As a child in Brazil, Ghetti sharpened his pencils with a razor blade, which led to him experiment with carving into the wood of the pencils and then with other materials such as chalk, soap, and tree bark. Eventually, he discovered the ease with which graphite could be carved into because of its smooth texture. He uses No. 2 pencils and stronger, flat carpenter pencils.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Ghetti’s sculptures is that he does not use a magnifying glass of any sort while creating his pieces. He does them all by hand and most of the time all he needs is a razor blade, a sewing needle, and very bright light. In order to protect his eyes and keep them from getting tired, he only works on his pencils for about an hour and a half a day. The time restraint and the tiny, intricate details make for a long process; his pieces can take months to years to complete. Ghetti explains: “I have an interest in small things in life—insects, moths, spiders. I spend a lot of time observing them. There’s a whole microscopic world out there that people don’t even notice.” Magnifying glasses have been previously provided for visitors to exhibits of his sculptures, as well as enlarged photographs, to fully appreciate the detail.
It took Ghetti about two and half years to complete Alphabet, a set of 26 pencils with each letter of the alphabet carved into the tip of the graphite. The letters are in perfectly block shaped, reminiscent of letter magnets. In recognition of his career as a carpenter, he has also created a series of mini sculptures of tools such as a hammer and a saw. Chain is different from his other works because instead of using the tip of the pencil, he carved individual links out of the graphite in the middle of the pencil. This created a chain that links the two ends of the pencil together.
“People look at my sculptures and then they look again, more closely, and they say, ‘Oh, there’s something in there.’ We’re a fast-paced society, and people don’t have time to stop and reflect–it’s all go, go, go. Hopefully these pieces make them stop and realize there is beauty in small things.”
Ghetti has been working on an ongoing memorial project for the tragedies of September 11. He is carving teardrops out of graphite, one for every person that died that day (3,000). The teardrops will then be arranged together to form a much larger teardrop.
The idea is, as you walk in, you’ll see a huge tear drop far away. As you walk up close to it, you’ll see that it’s made up of tiny little ones. So I make one a day. I was watching the whole thing from Sherwood Island State Park, and I broke down and cried all day. I had a vision about doing something about it, and that’s what I came up with. It’ll probably take about 10 years to do it.
-Dalton Ghetti
Watch Ghetti talk about his work in this video.
Come see Ghetti’s work at the New Britain Museum of American Art in our exhibition Meticulous Masterpieces: Contemporary Art by Dalton Ghetti, Les Lourigan, and Jennifer Maestre from April 2 to August 29, 2010. There will be an opening reception in conjunction with our First Friday event on April 2, 5:30-7:00, with opening remarks by the artists at 6.
Fantástico, sabia que ele gostava de desenhar com grafite, mais essas miniaturas são lindas. Parabéns Ghetti.
Oi Katia, você conhece o Dalton?!
Fiquei muito interessado na arte dele e gostaria de ter contato!
Sabe como consigo falar com ele nos EUA?
Obrigado, bjs,
[…] very bright light, and there is no use of a magnifying glass in creation of these artistic works. Each of these sculptures takes months to years to complete as he works for about an hour and a half a […]
[…] Das ganze auch schon recht lange, so, dass es ziemlich viel zu sehen gibt. Guckt mal hier und da. Share and […]
Hi,
My name is Eunjung Kim in Korea.
I’m working for kids science magazin.
lately I was amazied by your pencil art.
so I eager to make the article about your pencil art. Could you approval our interview and using the your pencil art’s images.
if you are approval, this article is interesting Korea kids.
please reply on this e-mail.
thank you.
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Dalton is a great guy and a great artist!
[…] A friend of mine forward this email to me and I didn’t think much of it….until I scrolled down and saw these photos. It’s amazing!!! Who has time to think of things like this? Dalton Ghetti. […]
Your fingers, eyes and talent are truly a gift of God. How wonderfully amazing with a unique beauty. Thank you
Dalton Ghetti.
Your art is very rare and is largely appreciated.
I am Sravan and I am from India.
Our college has a cultural fest called MOODINDIGO… which is Asia’s largest.. and i am the coordinator
We would like to invite you to the fest which happens from 20th to 23rd december 2010.
Please accept this invitation and reply on this e-mail.
[…] https://nbmaa.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/dalton-ghettis-microscopic-world/ […]
[…] Ghetti, Les Lourigan, and Jennifer Maestre closed on August 29, 2010. But you can read about it here. And more about his process […]
[…] an artist who carves miniatures (very mini miniatures) out of pencils and graphite. His name is Dalton Ghetti and his work is […]
[…] GHETTI – D’À PLOMB!!! Se rendre aux commentaires DALTON GHETTI a choisi le comble de la minutie en sculptant… des […]
Please email me at NoelleA@NBMAA.org
Dalton, gostei de seus trabalhos ,são interessantes, eu tambem tenho feito alguns ,estou lecionando pintura no Veiga Valle em Goiânia isso a 8 anos ja, tenho um orkut o hercules.icarus@gmail.com e um msn o eugenioleao@hotmail.com. Entre em contato meu amigo.
[…] challenge himself “by trying to make things as small as possible.” According to the article at https://nbmaa.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/dalton-ghettis-microscopic-world/, Mr. Ghetti says, “We’re a fast-paced society, and people don’t have time to stop and […]
[…] very bright light, and there is no use of a magnifying glass in creation of these artistic works. Each of these sculptures takes months to years to complete as he works for about an hour and a half a […]
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