Sculptor transforms Rome's dead trees into art

Andrea Gandini, who began his tree-carvings around 5 years ago, chipped away at his 66th stump - a sculpture of a she-wolf, the symbol of Rome - in the huge Villa Pamphili park on Friday (October 18).

He has plenty of raw material to work with. Rome is known as one of the greenest cities in Europe, with its 313,000 trees filling its many parks and lining the streets in the city centre.

However, many were planted during the 1920s and 30s and are now old or dying.

Seeing how they are neglected made Gandini want to bring the stumps back to life, and give something back to the people of Rome.

(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SCULPTOR, ANDREA GANDINI, SAYING:

"I often compare what I do to an archaeological dig, more than to classic sculpture. I just follow the form of the trunk, and create the shape that it most suited to that trunk. So the face that emerges is neither a portrait of someone in the street or an idea of mine. It is simply the trunk itself that reveals its own form."

Many of Rome's trees have been neglected and become a safety hazard due to the heavily indebted capital's financial problems. They often fall and smash cars during storms, and city hall says some 86,000 need to be specially maintained or chopped down.

Despite the popularity of his sculptures among locals and tourists, the Rome authorities have been less enthusiastic.

Although there is no law that forbids people from carving dead tree stumps, police have threatened to ban him from historic areas including the Colosseum, using tough new rules drawn up in recent years to maintain decorum.

It hasn't stopped Gandini carving elsewhere in city.

His 66 stumps - dotted everywhere from busy shopping streets to famous gardens - have completely different faces and styles.