Roberto Brambilla’s White Hot #2 wins AAW Turning of the Week

The AAW forum’s Turning of the Week team did not arrive quickly at Roberto Brambilla’s White Hot #2. Michael Anderson, identified on the page as a Super Moderator and member of the TOTW team, said the gallery was full of strong work and that the choice came only after weighing form first, then the balance between natural wood and embellishment, and finally the quality of the photography.

That order matters. The forum made clear that presentation is part of the piece, especially when many members will never handle the vessel in person. White Hot #2 landed because it checked all three boxes: a continuous curve from base to rim, a surface that pushed the vessel toward a hotter, more theatrical reading, and photography strong enough to carry the illusion online. Anderson singled out Brambilla’s decision to recess the top below the rim, giving the silhouette the feel of a volcanic edge opening into flowing lava.

For active turners, that recognition says something useful about where attention is landing right now. The forum was not rewarding ornament for its own sake. It was rewarding a form that stayed legible even after heavy surface modification, with the underlying vessel still readable beneath the color and texture. That is the hard part in this kind of work: keeping the shape disciplined enough that the surface can go bold without turning the whole piece into a gimmick. White Hot #2 earned its spot because Brambilla managed exactly that.

Brambilla’s forum profile adds more context to why the piece hit so hard. He joined the AAW forum in 2024, said he lives in Milan, Italy, and noted that he had been turning since 2018, only recently beginning to explore his artistic expression more deliberately. That arc fits his other posted work. Chamber #1, shown on April 8, 2026, used poplar wood and acrylic paint in a 22x20 cm format, with a rupture pulling down from the rim and charred, lifted edges. His Sacred Vessel, also in poplar with carving and acrylics, drew praise from other members for its colors and texture work.

Brambilla’s own description of his practice as contemporary sculptural woodturning exploring form, internal pressure and material tension lines up neatly with the White Hot #2 decision. The forum’s unusually strong praise suggested more than a nice finish or a good photograph. It showed that, in this crowd, a vessel earns notice when design ambition, technical control and presentation all pull in the same direction, and White Hot #2 hit that mark cleanly.