Surface stories
- Alice went from being a textile designer to being a surface designer
- She was inspired by the walls of old buildings in east Berlin
- Her work combines tactile and visual
Alice Corbetta began her creative path as a textile designer, collaborating with Italian and international fashion firms and designing carpets. At that time, her works was centred around the graphic side of the work. Her life and career dramatically change when, in 2007, she left the upscale glamor and buzz of Milan and moved to a quiet village in Tuscany. Here, in a former factory surrounded by the beauty of the Chianti hills, Alice began to get her hands dirty, dipping them in raw lime and cement, experimenting with matter and components. Her background in textiles found new expression, as she developed ways of transposing them onto hard surfaces and inventing new forms of surface design. Today, Alice owns a large textile archive of fabrics and patterns collected from sources as varied as markets to florists: each one is given a new life and a different meaning according to the surface they end up decorating.
INTERVIEW
I believe it was the possibility of having a space where I could actually work and create. Also, having a quieter, more laid-back life, surrounded by nature, has given me a new rhythm. I am inspired and surprised by the beauty of my surroundings.
Anything that has, or can be given, some kind of “feel”. The tactile aspect is just as important as the visual one when it comes to surface design, especially when working on interiors. It allows the transformation into something sensorial.
In Berlin I saw some old DDR buildings which had been turned into upscale bars. On the walls there were layers of old wallpaper, ripped in certain spots. I like the idea of layering my work, allowing it appear unfinished – with traces of old memories layered on top of one another.
I work for architects, interior designers and project-makers. I try to promote my work independently but it’s hard to do everything. I would also like to hire collaborators because the cross-pollination and creative exchange is precious, but in Italy it’s almost impossible to hire when you are an independent.
2 EXPERIENCES
