Maria Diana

Jewellery maker

©Federica Cioccoloni

A touch of porcelain

Maria makes jewellery and framed works from decorated porcelain
Her creations have been exhibited in international museums
Her jewellery can be found in boutiques around the world

Maria Diana was introduced to porcelain by her great-aunt, the Sardinian artist Maria Lai, to whom she was very close. "I was always fascinated by her work, which she called her way of existing and seeing the world," shares Maria. It was with this great-aunt that Maria took her first steps in porcelain and found her way into contemporary jewellery. Since the late 1990s, she has been making jewellery with organic and geometric textures. To white or coloured porcelain, Maria associates different materials such as bronze and silver, and applies her ceramic and goldsmithing techniques in a single object. In recent years she has also developed her aesthetic into wall-frame artworks based on maps of Rome, decorating a porcelain map with gold accents and colourful frames.

Interview

Why did you choose this profession?: Jewellery remains an interesting field of work because it allows us to think on several levels. It is an ornamental object that has a very important structural part and must be wearable in order to function. To create a piece also requires artistic spirit and design skills. All this allows me to apply what I learnt in my training as an architect.
Do you exclusively make jewellery in your workshop?: In recent years, I started working on city maps, creating both jewellery lines and independent works inspired by this theme. The maps are engraved on wooden casts (made in collaboration with the Department of Design at La Sapienza University in Rome) and then imprinted on porcelain sheets that I cut and assemble in various ways.
What does 'artfully made' mean to you?: I think that for an object to be artfully made, it must involve basic technical knowledge. However, technical perfection is not enough, it is necessary for the artistic object to speak and communicate something in order to be unique.
Is there a piece you made to which you are particularly attached?: I will answer as my great-aunt answered when I asked her this question: “I am attached to what I will do tomorrow.” Let us not stop to look at the past uncritically, let us treasure it to build a better future.

Maria Diana is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1998 and she started teaching in 2024