The Initiation (L’iniziazione), 1962

Only a small number of period photographs of this work are known. The monument was installed outdoors at the Krannert Art Museum of the University of Illinois in Champaign. The Initiation displays not only the totemic and animistic qualities associated with Native American art, but also a sculptural technique based on interlocking cut planes, comparable to that found in certain Mesoamerican gold sculptures. The work likewise features the dense symbolic surface patterning that is a defining characteristic of Mirko Basaldella’s entire artistic production.