EMY PETRINI: dialogue with nature

Ceramics and willow, different materials but shared origins

For the artist Emy Petrini, nature plays a central role in people’s lives and that’s why it’s important to observe it and reinterpret every season in order to appreciate its harmony and poetry: “It’s as if nature guides my hands”. With this philosophy, the artist has created a unique work for Ceramiche Coem’s exhibition space, using two-dimensional and three-dimensional elements. The work is composed of a series of “nests”, created by intertwining willow branches, that contain our dreams, the desire of each of us to look ahead towards the future: the effect is achieved thanks to the weaving which, Emy Petrini affirms, will be able to hold beautiful dreams. It is a word that dialogues, in a special way, with the exhibition space and the new collections, the artist and the company sharing the same approach in the search for beauty. We met Emy Petrini and chatted with her about her “Dreamcatchers”:

LifeTiles: What does it mean for you to work in harmony with Nature?

E. Petrini: My work is characterised by the changing of the seasons: everything in nature has its own particular timings, rhythms and pauses. The first rule for me is definitely observing Nature and understanding its needs. There are periods of the year that I dedicate to collecting material. The best period is often winter, when plants’ vegetative cycle is suspended; then, there are also the ancient country traditions that I like to follow, such as “si taglia a luna calante!” [cut during a waning moon!]. Today, in fact, what I try to do in my work, is to put myself in front of the vegetable material I’m using, adapting an attitude of respect and attention.

LifeTiles: Where does the concept of this installation come from?

E. Petrini: I’ve created an aerial installation for Coem and Fioranese composed of large-sized elements; I wanted to attribute an almost magic significance to this work, creating a sort of journey in the realm of dreams, with eyes directed upwards, towards these suspended elements which are at the same time light and evocative. I imagined them as Dreamcatchers; a dense intertwining of willow is created inside a form where positive dreams can remain so as to be able to return them later to mind. I liked the idea of inserting these elements in an exhibition area, creating harmony with the surroundings. Having a Dreamcatcher protects the location and lightens the mind.

LifeTiles: You have worked in Paris, Berlin, Rome and Florence. Which experience has most influenced your artistic journey?

E. Petrini: I have a special relationship with all my past, with all my professional experiences. I’m sure that every work has involved growth and has been an experience of life and sharing with important people, and the existential experience is the common thread of my works around Europe; if you had asked me what was the work of my dreams, I don’t think I could have been able to imagine the great adventure that was ‘The Enchanted Wood’, made for the important Berlin fair, ‘Bread&Butter’. It involved four huge walls covered with vegetable material, a 4-metre-high parallelepiped, and thousands of bindings to keep together branches, leaves, shrubs, barks and lichens. The idea was being able to enter and walk in a wood, leaving behind the noise of the city; for a moment the mind returns to consider the wonder of life. The Wood is a journey to ourselves, and a journey in time. We can’t imagine how many things we can find in a Wood…. and I like to think that in every Wood I can find myself.

LifeTiles: Nature, Man and Time; what connection are you investigating in your art?

E. Petrini: Nature talks to us, sending us infinite messages, and it’s precisely in the simplicity of things that the fullest form of a true correspondence of emotions lies. In my work I try to be a vehicle, someone who, with their sensitivity, seeks to transmit what they see. Personally, I have always found comfort in a Nature that communicates strong emotions and a great sense of freedom to me. I have always sought a path that enriches me… and I’ve found myself walking for hours and hours immersed in nature. I began to collect branches, leaves and shrubs; I found form, colour, variations and proportions in these elements… this is how nature inspired me to creativity and action. I listened to, and observed, Nature; I tried to hear its communicative resources. I discovered my nature in nature. My art is performed with natural elements and it’s important for me to find the right rhythm to do this; I have to follow the rhythm, the one suggested by the weave, and that imposed by the seasons. I now like the idea of thinking that for me Nature is inside and outside, around me and inside me.

LifeTiles: What will be your next piece of work?

E. Petrini: It’s difficult to make plans these days, but despite the difficulties of this particular moment we’re living through, I feel that there are incentives that could become opportunities for sharing projects and installations; I also feel that there are increasingly opportunities to find situations where I can be appreciated for my sensitivity towards Nature and for my artistic languages; if the furniture show in Milan is held, maybe on that occasion I could develop a large-scale project that means very much to me… I’ll let you know ……