I was born on February 8, 1964, in Salem, Germany. My artistic education began with studies in Art History in Bamberg with Professor Robert Suckale from 1984 to 1986, and then continued at the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara from 1987 to 1991, where I graduated with honors.
Since then, I have lived in Italy, a country that has deeply influenced my artistic expression. If I had stayed in Germany, I would certainly have become a different artist. Here in Italy there are Madonnas everywhere, Giotto's landscapes, haloes, gold - you breathe art in every corner, in every village.
My Artistic Journey
My training is classical: drawing, modeling, learning to work with terracotta, plaster, marble, and bronze. The human body has always been my main subject, with a central interest in the interaction between the inside and outside of a person, between body form and shape.
In the 1990s, I designed numerous public spaces with groups of bronze sculptures, characterized by realistic representations of contemporary people. Life-sized figures, with all the attributes of everyday appearance, especially current clothing.
The Turning Point of 2000
The birth of my son Vincent in 2000 turned my life upside down. Despite being a child wanted by both of us, my partner suddenly left us. Both sculptors, working together, doing exhibitions together, I found myself alone with a child.
It was no longer possible to model in the studio, which was too cold and dusty, so I had to find another solution to be able to work constantly as I was used to. I started embroidery and created my "mobile studio." Living in a very isolated house in the hills of Versilia, for all of Vincent's activities - guitar lessons, Hip-Hop, Aikido, theater, photography, football, surfing, friends' birthdays - we had to go down to the valley. I would pack my embroidery bag and wherever I took him, I would wait outside in my very cozy van and work.
It was during this period that I discovered the fascination of textiles and embroidery. I began working with various materials such as wool, silk, hemp, and linen. The desire to carry out this feminine work allowed me to always be close to my child, discovering the freedom that stimulates the experimentation of my artistic research.
Over the years, I have changed from a sculptor to an artist working with textiles, with antique and contemporary fabrics I love so much, using needle and thread, always working by hand as I used to, but no longer with terracotta and bronze. I am very happy to be autonomous, proud to have raised my adorable son on my own and to always be on very good terms with his father.
My Art Today
It is precisely slowness in my work that reflects me most, what interests me as a very important theme. All my work is about time, meditation, spirituality.
The endless repetition of the gesture with needle and thread, and also my hands making thousands of knots, create an intense dialogue between the world and my inner being. Stitch after stitch, knot after knot, contain reflections on hope, consolation, happiness, and love for all humanity and all living beings, and this must be done every day, for hours, for days, for months, always, slowly and with deep dedication.
Today I rediscover in my works the slowness that I loved so much in creating sculptures, but no longer the heaviness. The repeating movements with needle and thread, so humble but significant and meditative, became the connection of my emotional communication.
My Approach to Life and Art
I live a very reclusive life, and besides my son Vincent, I see very few people. He is the best critic, and whenever I have doubts, his position as an observer is incomparably accurate. The exchange with my friends, most of them artists, is always illuminating and intimate at the same time, as our conversations about art, spirituality, world events, love, and relationships give us the joy of feeling community, and afterward, everyone off to the studio.
But the sentence "ALL THE ANSWERS ARE INSIDE" that I am repeatedly involving in my work, embroidering it, thinking it, is more than a statement: it is the deep knowledge of the necessity to spend most of my time alone to work. TIME is the magic word, to work always and constantly, and therefore I need to be alone as much as I can.
In the evolution of my art, I have become increasingly interested in expressions of spirituality rather than representation of the figure. My search has intensified in the duality between individual inner worlds and universal questions about the meaning of being. I am particularly interested in the phenomenon of universal love and the protection of people and their existence by cosmic forces.
Exhibitions and Public Works
My artistic career includes numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy, Germany, and other European countries. I have created several public works, mainly life-size bronze sculptures. In 2022, I won the FIRST PRIZE in an art competition by invitation for the creation of a sculpture, object, or installation on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Bodenseekreis county in Germany, with the work titled "DAS WALDFORUM" (not yet realized).
I have participated twice in the INTERNATIONAL ART BIENNALE FRESH WINDS in Iceland (2017-2018 and 2022-2023) and had an artist residency in Borås, Sweden, in 2019. In 2024, I participated in the exhibition "THE SHAPE IT TAKES" with 5 other women artists at the Workshop Gallery at Nido dell'Aquila in TODI and spent a month in residence at TODI ARTS STUDIO.
We are all interconnected and there is a great responsibility that comes with just existing in this world. We all live together here and we must find ways to coexist.
