A project on art and life
- For Michela, art must be the bearer of a new vision for the future
- Each object she makes is a message to be broadcast to the world
- She sees her role as a craftswoman as being about weaving a network and making it grow
Michela Bortolozzi is a maker who was born and raised in Venice. After a number of years of academic and artistic studies, travels and projects around the world, she accumulated the know-how and experience needed to open her own atelier in the lagoon area of the city. Michela's work showcases a sustainable vision of tourism with objects created to breathe new life into local and discarded materials. She sculpts candles, lollipops, soaps and jewellery that recreate the architecture of well-known Venetian buildings with a message to "Relight Venice." Michela has made her workshop a place open to the exchange of ideas, workshops and joint ventures. Her creations draw on the motifs and shapes found in urban architecture and celebrate the history of the artisans and crafts of Venice. Since 2022 she collaborates with Rio Terà dei Pensieri Cooperative, a work-in-jail cooperative that aims at reintegrating into society people detained in Venice prisons.
Interview
- What kickstarted you into making creative objects?
- I realised that small handmade products could be a way to create art for everyone. I started thinking about how to make designer objects that could combine function with the ability to convey beauty and awareness.
- What influenced your approach?
- The desire to travel, to meet people and collect stories triggered the idea and insight that led me to create projects that can sum up the inspiration of a place and tell its story with traditional materials and craftsmanship.
- What links your creations to the local area?
- All my creations have a strong bond with Venice and the need to preserve it. They invite you to experience it with respect, and ask yourself: how am I interacting with the city? Am I consuming it? Am I conserving it? Am I supporting it? Am I adding anything to ensure it stays alive?
- Can your candles also be lit?
- They are meant to be consumed, unlike the city they represent. Venice cannot be reconstructed, candles can. I invite you to use them to have an experience and I have also created refills to give you the chance to repeat it.
Michela Bortolozzi is a rising star: she began her career in 2020 and she started teaching in 2022
Works
Where
Michela Bortolozzi
