ROBERTO APONTE

Naples, 1988

After training in industrial design in Rome and completing a master’s degree in retail design at the Politecnico di Milano, Aponte began an independent research practice in ceramics in 2019. Since 2022, his work has focused on the industrial extrusion process of brick, which he adopts as a device through which to explore new expressive possibilities. In 2023, he began collaborating with ceramic foundations as a consultant, developing bespoke projects for private clients, fashion companies, and artists, in an ongoing dialogue between serial production and an artistic approach.

His work develops from a critical reinterpretation of the brick—an archetypal building element—which is removed from its functional context and reworked in a sculptural key. Through acts of subtraction and alterations to the industrial process, Aponte challenges the material’s formal stability, opening it up to unexpected and non-predetermined outcomes.

The firing process fixes these forms in a suspended condition, while glazing activates the surface, generating visual vibrations and unexpected perceptual qualities.

His first collection, presented in spring 2022, emerged from an intense phase of material experimentation and unfolds as a coherent series of sculptural objects, enriched by glazes specifically developed to produce unique effects.

Today, Aponte’s research extends into furniture design, where the process is tested across new scales and functions, consolidating a practice that redefines the relationship between art, craft, and contemporary design.