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The Perfect Union
Every year in the coldest weeks of the winter season, strange sculptures begin to appear in the fields all over the island. It is the moment for grafting.
Wild olive trees grow throughout the island and they produce perfectly tiny olives with a thin and bitter skin. However, though the oil from wild olives is supposedly superior to that of domesticated varieties, the yield is much, much lower. And so the grafting game begins. Wild olive trees grow throughout the island and they produce perfectly tiny olives with a thin and bitter skin. However, though the oil from wild olives is supposedly superior to that of domesticated varieties, the yield is much, much lower. And so the grafting game begins.
ph. Silvia Loni
Walter Usai
Walter learned his trade from his father Elvio, who learned from his father, who learned from his own father. Their generational story is only one of many in the small town of Assemini, known as one of the poles of Sardinian ceramic production. Walter's particular style is rooted in the inimitable texture that comes from his shaping of details and decorations. A master of form, he is able to create vases that are at once timeless and deeply rooted in Sardinian history.
What is your favorite place in Sardinia?
There isn’t a place in Sardinia that I don’t love. There are lots of details that give this island a character that other lands just don’t have - the color of the sea, the scent of helichrysum, the eyes of the women (just one look at them and you can tell that they’re in charge of the island), the philosophical air of the sheep, the dessert seadas(like a legal drug), people think before speaking, the particular Sardinian grammar that gets translated directly into Italian, the trees that have been bent by strong winds. All together, you can only find these on my much-loved island.
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