"We all have our obsessions, sometimes they fuel us, sometimes they harm us. On Easter Island they were obsessed with their MOAIs ... and they let the Island decay.
I paint MOAIs as a way to reflect on obsessions, both my own and those I observe around me."
-Dario "Radio" Miticocchio-
Welcome
I'm a multi-disciplinary artist and designer from Milan (Italy) living in San Diego, California (USA).
My love affair with MOAIs began a long time ago, however it's when I started seeing them as an artistic medium that things got more interesting...
In Spring 2024 I was invited to show a piece in a group show. Since I was focused on this idea of using MOAIs as symbols of obsessions I decided to show up with a fairly large head (4 feet tall), made out of felt with the help of Acoustic Design Lab, a business specialized in custom soundproofing.
With the head I left a stack of paper strips, push pins, sharpies, and a sign telling a story of the people of Easter island, letting their island go bad while they were obsessed with their MOAIS. It also invited visitors to pin their obsessions to the head to exorcise them.
To my surprise it got covered in no time...
I called this head "Obsession Probe".
Fast forward a few months and I was preparing for the MO-AY show (combination of MOAI and "AY-AY-AY", used typically to express regret).
I collected the obsessions that people left pinned on my 'statue', then proceeded to use them in a composition.
After a few trials I landed on what you see here, which I called "Obsession Landscape", a 6'x3' piece painted on Kirei board using a combination of house paint and acrylic, plus the paper strips with the obsessions.
The large sun that takes most of the space is composed in the top 1/2 by words that generally relate to social-media induced insecurities, the bottom 1/2 is consumerism, and on the heads at the bottom are emotional issues and more strange obsessions.
Besides painting (mostly in acrylic), my past as an architect and designer naturally draws me to larger three dimensional projects both on my own and by collaborating with other professionals. The structure shown in this section for instance was developed by Ramiro Martinez and myself (plus butterfly-art by German Corrales), for the 2024 North Park Music Festival in San DIego, California.
This site is a work in progress, to stay up to date please check back regularly, or subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this page. The About, Gallery and Blog session show more of my work and give a glimpse into my world, I hope you enjoy your visit.
Thanks for Stopping by.
Radio
