Tell me about your background and how you started your career as a ceramist.

I was born in Pordenone, a town in Northern Italy.  When I was very small my family moved to Porcia in the countryside, where I still live today. At 18 years old I heard that a teacher from Gubbio, Nello Minelli, was coming to Pordenone to teach ceramics and the use of the potter’s wheel. This experience began my passion for working with clay, and afterwards I continued on my own, but I wanted to dig deeper. I did some research and discovered a lathe master from Deruta, Giuseppe Temperoni, whom I shadowed in his workshop. He taught me the basic techniques and construction of various forms.

At a certain point, I wanted to do something different and after a lot of research I came across Pietro Elia Maddalena’s La Meridiana school, a prestigious international ceramics art school, where I honed my skills further.  By 2000, I felt the need to take on new challenges, so I also started the paper clay technique with Cimatti. I began to understand that this was the direction I would like to go in. I wanted to work with ceramics, but in a less restrictive way. I wanted to be able to express myself more freely with the medium and paper clay seemed ideal.  Thus, the new collections in paper clay were born.

What are the main challenges you have faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

My main challenge in the beginning was to be able to make a living out of my passion. Ceramics in general are not considered one of the fine arts and are not given much support by the artistic community. It took a lot of courage and determination to stick with the career choice I made – there were many times I was unsure how I could make ends meet.  That said, I have always believed in what I am doing and the direction I wanted to go in and that helped me to press on.

How has being a woman affected your career?

Although I know that there is great inconsistency between how men and women are treated, it is something that I never took into consideration. I love being a woman and I love working with other women. I feel it is a great advantage. I have my work and I am proud to have my two children. I love supporting other women and have never allowed any other way of thinking to affect my decisions.

What do you believe are the keys to effective leadership?

I don’t really feel like a leader and have never strived to be one, although I am aware that I am responsible for a team of collaborators who work for me – so in that sense, I am, and I do take that seriously. I feel that empathy for those who you look after is important and that taking care of the well-being of my helpers has always been a high priority for me.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

To be myself and not be conditioned by what other people, or even society, thinks and expects from me. Never give up.

What advice would you give to emerging female artists entering the art world?

The same.

How would you describe your work/life balance? 

My work is very much a part of me, and it is always present in my daily life. I cannot really separate the two. However, my family is my utmost priority and as long as there is love and balance at home than the rest follows.

The art world is constantly evolving – what are some positive changes you think should be celebrated, and what areas still need more work?

Many things in the art world are better today than years ago. For example, respect for nature and working in harmony with it has become much more important. There is also more space for women and artists from a wider range of cultures to express themselves. There is still a lot of work to do to improve in both of those areas though, and this should be encouraged at all levels.

What are your main sources of inspiration?

My love for nature is at the centre of my work, but also at the centre of my life, it’s a part of me, who I am. I don’t look to nature for inspiration, the inspiration arrives through what I see and how I feel because of my connection with the natural world. I have a love of architecture that does subconsciously creep into my work sometimes, but for the most part, my artistic expression is a result of what I see around me and how I feel in my everyday life.  The “process” of being inspired is very organic for me

Veuve Clicquot stands for audacity and optimism. How did you merge these elements in your La Grande Dame 2015 packaging?

Audacity, I feel, came from my desire to make the packaging 100% eco-sustainable. It was ambitious and extremely challenging, however we were able to produce it using 100% natural materials – no plastic, no metal.

Optimism was expressed by using six colours instead of just one. My artwork is compositional and the joyful optimism displayed in multiple bold colours that are in harmony with one another is a beautiful thing to behold. The iconic Veuve Clicquot yellow that evokes positivity was the starting point for the other colours and from there we hope to have created a tapestry of tones that express this concept.