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MICHAEL SYLVAN ROBINSON
Michael Sylvan Robinson’s art and queer activism are expressed through the innovative use of textile collage and text-based art techniques. Their process begins with the selection of textiles characterized by intricate patterns, which are then reassembled into complex textile collages, densely worked with machine and hand stitching, as well as bead applications. Originally a costume designer and performance artist, Robinson’s practice later evolved into a deep exploration of wearable art, two-dimensional works, sculptures, and installations. In these works, the dimensional aspect is heightened by meticulous surface details that invite the viewer to engage with a broader conceptual structure. The sculptural garments and wearable art from their #urbanfey series serve as…
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THE MEOC ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM OLIVA CARTA CANNAS AND THE AAAPERTO OF AGGIUS
| by Barbara Pavan |Images ph.credit Chiara Marci The MEOC Oliva Carta Cannas Ethnographic Museum, the largest in Sardinia, preserves a rich heritage of testimonies of textile activity deeply rooted in the culture of this town in Gallura. So much so, in fact, that the reconstruction of the stazzo—the typical ancient Gallurese house—presented within the museum, is hosted inside the restored and renovated building that once housed the first textile school. The recognitions and certificates of merit awarded to the school are on display inside the museum itself. The exhibition path showcases testimonies of domestic life and local productions, traditional and historical costumes, and above all, the art of weaving—especially…
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IN SYMBIOSIS WITH MOTHER NATURE: THE ART OF TRACEY DEEP
| by Barbara Pavan | Tracey Deep is one of the most refined and original voices in contemporary Australian art, whose artistic journey is intrinsically tied to a profound and spiritual connection with nature. Over more than twenty-five years, Deep has woven her artistic path with a personal and deep vision of the natural world, recognizing it not only as a material but as a true muse and mentor. Her artistic practice unfolds through a continuous exploration of the potential offered by native Australian plants and other organic materials, which she employs to create floral sculptures and environmental installations capable of evoking a strong sense of harmony and balance. From…
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THE LIVING AND ACTIVE ART OF PATRIZIA BENEDETTA FRATUS
| by Barbara Pavan | With Indre and the Medee project—her two most recent interventions—Patrizia Benedetta Fratus (Palosco, 1960) reaffirms her commitment to participatory art, exploring and seeking new individual, social, and political relational dynamics as alternatives to those experimented with so far. An artivist active for years on both the national and international scene, Fratus has always been convinced that art represents a tool for transformation and evolution, both on an individual and collective level, with significant social and political implications. She favors the use of discarded materials to create works and interventions that actively engage those who contribute to their realization, making them an integral and living part…
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GISELLA CHAUDRY
| by Barbara Pavan | Gisella Chaudry was born in Palermo in 1989 and has been living in Turin for several years. Growing up in a family shaped by the fusion of two cultures—her Pakistani father’s and her Sicilian mother’s—nurtured in her a profound sensitivity toward themes of identity and social disparity, which are central to her artistic research. Her practice is an inquiry into the human condition, an attempt to reconnect with the primordial roots of existence through a visual language that explores the relationship between the individual and the cosmos. The artist employs diverse techniques, including combustion, embroidery, and installation—tools through which she constructs narratives suspended between reality…
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MIRIAM MEDREZ
| by Barbara Pavan | Miriam Medrez was born in Ciudad de México in 1958. After studying Art and Graphic Design at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, she graduated in 1979 in Fine Arts at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ENAP-UNAM). Fundamental to her development as a sculptor were the courses taught by Gerda Gruber, who imparted not only technical skills in clay manipulation but, more importantly, encouraged her students to regard material as a sculptural artistic language — liberating ceramics from its dependence on two-dimensional imagery and traditional painting. It was through ceramics, on the other hand, that Medrez learned the…
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ADELINE CONTRERAS: SENSORIAL TRACES BETWEEN MEMORY AND MATERIAL
| by Barbara Pavan | Adeline Contreras, an artist living and working in France, explores collective memory in her work—”a shared story”, she explains, “linked to our sensory and visual experiences, embedded in a more personal experience. A memory tied to a sensation rather than an event, a recollection that awakens our sensory memory. These resurfacings are the trace of our experiences, sensations connected to the context in which we evolve.” Contreras pursues an artistic inquiry nourished by memory, reclaimed materials, and textile techniques. Her works, tactile and material-based, embody the visible concreteness of a perpetual metamorphosis, hybridizing into polymorphic forms of varying dimensions and materials, hinting at the infinite…
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CHRISTELLE JEANNE LACOMBE: THE ART OF WEAVING THREADS AND WORDS
| by Barbara Pavan | Christelle Jeanne Lacombe lives and works in Paris, where for over two decades she has combined her expertise in psychoanalysis with her artistic commitment. A graduate of the École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués Duperré in Paris, she studied art therapy with a specialization in visual arts. These intertwined disciplines feed her singular approach to art, where textile fibers become the medium for deep reflection, striving to embrace the paradoxes of psychic life. A practicing psychoanalyst for twenty years, and by day a hospital worker for adolescents, Lacombe attentively explores artistic languages that resonate with therapeutic and human dimensions. The textile universe, with its weaves and…
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ALICJA KOZŁOWSKA
| by Barbara Pavan | In a world increasingly dominated by hyper-consumption and compulsive overproduction, we often find ourselves purchasing not the objects themselves but the packaging and the communication strategies that surround them. The content has become secondary, often even unknown. Take junk food, for example: we consume products of dubious nutritional quality, beautifully “dressed” and expertly marketed. Against this backdrop, Alicja Kozłowska invites us to rethink our relationship with the objects of daily life by transforming them into unique artworks. Through her practice, she provokes us to question what truly nourishes our bodies, minds, and spirits. Her works confront the overwhelming consumerism that engulfs modern society, urging us…
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SONIA PISCICELLI IZN
by Barbara Pavan Sonia Piscicelli IZN (Naples, 1968) initially pursued studies in law, seemingly set on a career in the legal field. However, she soon decided to take a sabbatical year during which she worked at a television production studio and collaborated with the theater company “Libera scuola d’arte.” In 1989, she moved to Rome to attend the European Institute of Design, supporting herself through seasonal work in Val Gardena. She earned a diploma as an Art Director and Graphic Designer, embarking on an intense career in the field. In 2000, through the Interzona project, she transitioned to a more personal artistic dimension linked to web design, photography, and painting.…
