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ON RELATIONSHIP: INTERTWININGS AND BONDS IN THE ART OF GIULIA NELLI
| by Barbara Pavan | Giulia Nelli’s artistic path began concretely and definitively with her encounter with pantyhose, a ductile and elastic material that facilitates the amplification of gesture and obeys a precise, meticulous manual skill aimed at surpassing already experimented canons. It also constitutes, symbolically, a medium deeply and intimately anchored to the feminine universe and to the social and cultural evolutions that have affected it over the decades. Above all, pantyhose adhere perfectly to the function of Nelli’s artistic practice, as she unravels and re-knots them, frays them, intertwines them – and this articulation and disarticulation perfectly evokes the complexity of human relationships, which are the origin and…
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IN CONVERSATION WITH GUDRUN BARTENBERGER-GEYER
| By Barbara Pavan | Gudrun Bartenberger-Geyer (Linz, Austria, 1969) has always intertwined her life with the languages of textiles, fashion, and the visual arts. After an initial education in Textile and Decorative Design in her hometown, she moved to Vienna, where she pursued a path that alternated between the academic study of art history and Italian at the University of Vienna and a more concrete and experimental practice in the field of Fashion and Clothing Technology, culminating in a Master Class for Dressmaking. This constant dialogue between theoretical research and artisanal know-how became the guiding thread of her poetics. In 2005 she further enriched her background with a specialization…
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ILARIA MARGUTTI: ART AS A PRACTICE OF LISTENING, RESISTANCE, AND AWARENESS
| by Barbara Pavan | Crossing the threshold of an artist’s studio is always an act charged with anticipation, like the beginning of a silent ritual. Every time, I wonder how much of the spirit, of the soul that manifests in the works, also inhabits the space in which they take shape. In the case of Ilaria Margutti, this question becomes even more intense. Her research, in fact, moves within inner geographies with the same intensity with which it explores the complex immensity of the Universe. In her hands, the infinitely large is translated into an alphabet of dots within the minimal perimeter of an embroidery frame traversed by a…
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WEAVES OF MEANING: THE ART OF ANNEKE KLEIN BETWEEN MINIMALISM AND SOCIAL AWARENESS
| by Barbara Pavan | Anneke Klein is a Dutch fiber artist who, through essential weaves and a visual language of refined sobriety, explores the social dynamics of our time in depth. Her background as a goldsmith, her passion for weaving, and her interest in the interaction between the artwork and the viewer — and, not least, with the space itself — have led her to develop a personal and distinctive style, recognized and acclaimed in international contexts. In this interview, Klein shares her creative journey, the connection between minimal gestures and social reflection, and the most recent evolution of her work, which addresses the human need for hope, love,…
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LAYERS OF MEANING: THE ARTISTIC UNIVERSE OF NICOLE HAVEKOST
| by Barbara Pavan | Nicole Havekost (1970) develops an artistic practice that traverses multiple media and expressive languages, maintaining as a common thread a rigorous investigation into the potential of materials and the processual dimension of creation. Her work has been presented in numerous exhibitions, both nationally and internationally, and she is currently represented by Dreamsong Gallery in Minneapolis. At the same time, she is engaged in research and teaching activities: she is a national alumni member of A.I.R. Gallery and serves as a Teaching Artist Fellow at the Center for Craft, where she deepens the relationship between artistic practice and the transmission of knowledge. Her academic training includes…
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THE AESTHETICS OF FRAGILITY: AMY USDIN
| by Barbara Pavan | With a BFA in Graphic Communications from Washington University, St. Louis, Amy Usdin spent years as an art director before starting her studio practice in 2018. She has exhibited widely, including prestigious surveys representing the diversity and breadth of contemporary craft and fiber art, closing 2025 with a solo show at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in MN. Recognition includes publication in Fiber Art Now’s Excellence in Fibers, multiple awards from the Surface Design Association, and multiple grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. Usdin is a 2024 recipient of the Stone and DeGuire Contemporary Art Award from Washington University,…
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FIONA DAVIES: SYSTEMS OF POWER AND VULNERABILITY
| by Barbara Pavan | Fiona Davies is an Australian artist who integrates objects, video, photography, projection, installation, and performance into her practice, which is grounded in a transdisciplinary investigation of the power of systems, materials, and processes in moments of crisis. A current focus concerns the power dynamics in the interaction between patient and hospital, particularly during intensive care stays. She shared with me an in-depth account of her research and practice in the following interview. How did you come to art? I don’t remember not being aware of and not being involved with art. I’ve always wanted to be making art. From a young age maybe six or…
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THE CONTINUOUS THREAD, FROM WEAVING TO EMBROIDERY: IN CONVERSATION WITH GRAZIA INSERILLO
| by Barbara Pavan | A few years ago, I had the opportunity to speak with the sicilian artist Grazia Inserillo (born in 1988) at a crucial moment in her artistic journey. What emerged was a deep and multilayered portrait, in which thread—understood not only as material but as a potent symbol—became a tool for anthropological and autobiographical investigation, a gesture of care, and a political act. Inserillo’s practice was rooted in the legacy of the traditional crafts of her family, rediscovering and revitalizing the art of weaving and interlacing. From this ancient action, reinterpreted as a contemporary gesture, a body of work emerged that led to international exhibitions and…
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ALLISON HUDSON: THE ALCHEMY OF TRANSFORMATION
|by Barbara Pavan| For Allison Hudson, art is a vocation, an innate talent, a conscious choice — and, above all, a calling. A calling she tried to elude for many years, seeking more “practical” paths, but which ultimately proved inescapable. The creative avenues she had pursued up to that point had felt like compromises, partial attempts to satisfy a deeper need. It was only after a long and unintended hiatus from artistic practice that Hudson recognized her true path: to create art, and to fully embrace that part of herself. Her research manifests itself through the relentless exploration of materials. Each work is born as an act of experimentation, an…
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OLGA TEKSHEVA AND THE REBELLIOUS GRAMMAR OF MATERIALS
Olga Teksheva (Moscow, 1973) is an artist who has long been developing an artistic inquiry articulated through a visual and conceptual vocabulary intrinsically tied to a multifaceted biographical identity, marked by deep cultural layering and a transnational sensitivity. Her practice, centered on the use of textile media, materializes in complex narrative works. Through techniques such as textile collage, embroidery, crochet, and manual weaving, she creates works of high material and symbolic density, conceived to activate an immersive and multisensory interaction with the viewer. Her work explores the endless potential of textiles as an expressive language, rooted in a deeply articulated biographical and cultural vision. Since childhood, fabric has represented for…
