ANIMATED OBJECTS LIKE IN A FAIRY TALE

Paola Paronetto will present her new collections at Maison&Objet from January 16 to 20, 2025

Since the early 2000s, when the “Cartocci” collection was born in her workshop in Porcia, the work of Paola Paronetto, now an internationally acclaimed artist, has been characterized by objects as light as paper and rich in poetic imperfections.

Her new collections, always inspired by the natural world, its colors, and its lightness, will be presented at the next edition of Maison&Objet, one of the most prestigious international events in the design and furniture sector, which will take place from January 16 to 20 at the Paris Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre.

The exhibition space will feature new products such as “Bruco,” “Flora,” “Sfero,” “Pino,” “Girasoli,” and “Circo,” with their pastel hues and delicate textures.

Inspired by observing nature, Bruco transforms organic elements into a creative play of shapes, volumes, and suggestions. Through a combination of different heights and diameters, sinuous paths are created that play with shadows, textures, and colors. The interpretations are manifold: adjacent trunks, urban skylines, dizzying staircases, or organ pipes. Bruco is an invitation to imagination, adapting and coming to life in the mind, transporting us on a fantastic journey.

With its large shape surrounded by smaller volumes, Flora resembles a flower never seen before. It is an element that emerges with surprise in the domestic landscape, capturing the attention of those who look with sensitivity and curiosity. But its suggestions go further. For some, Flora may evoke an ancient tower, contemporary architecture, an elegant chandelier, or a royal crown. The associations that arise are endless, ready to bloom in any environment.

The perfection of the sphere is reinvented in Sfero, a geometric figure enriched with personality and meaning. Its organic and irregular shape is born from the meeting of different surfaces, evoking the image of a fruit with a rugged peel, a planet crisscrossed by intricate channels, or a tiny grain of pollen magnified under a microscope. Sfero is a poetic element that, carried by the wind of imagination, finds a new dimension within domestic spaces.

The Pino collection is characterized by curious and playful shapes that stimulate the imagination. The objects, made using the paper clay technique, combine paper pulp, natural fibers, and clay, making them light yet sturdy. Each piece invites surprise and the composition of cheerful arrangements. “This collection is inspired by an extraordinary character from my favorite childhood fairy tale,” says the artist. “The legendary Pinocchio, an animated wooden puppet whose nose grew when he told a lie. As in this fairy tale, my objects are also animated. I create them and then imagine them moving freely around my studio.”

The unique personality of this piece revealed itself so strongly that Paola immediately decided to repeat the sequence, creating a new series of works destined to enrich her numerous collections. These works have found extraordinary resonance among collectors and buyers worldwide.

Among the highlights is also the Reflections collection, born from the collaboration between Paola Paronetto and Giovanni Botticelli, exploring the duality between the materiality of the paper clay technique and the purity of mirrors. The Girasoli, with their delicate and irregular shapes, evoke the natural and symbolic beauty of these flowers, recalling their connection with art.

Starting from the distinctive graphic style of the Circo collection, already part of Paola Paronetto’s repertoire, the two designers reinterpreted the Girasoli through a material palette with fresh and vibrant colors. In continuous dialogue with the tones of the available mirrors, this new interpretation is inspired by the artistic movement of Color Field Painting, enhancing the geometries and sculptural nature of the pieces, giving them an even more vibrant and dynamic presence.

From a very young age, her curiosity led her to experiment with ceramics, learning clay-working techniques from masters until she encountered paper clay, which became the heart of her work. Her world is captured in the photographic book “Paola Paronetto. Metaphors,” presented at Triennale Milano.

Her works, which intertwine contemporary art and design, are exhibited in international showrooms, galleries, and museums. Among her solo exhibitions, highlights include those at Ille Arts in New York, the Contemporary Ceramic Centre in London, and her first Italian retrospective at ADI Design Museum in 2021.