Bringing the forests into Venice
- Papier-mâché has been part of Sofia's life since childhood
- She has developed her own techniques to carry on a traditional craft
- The Atelier Volante workshop is an enchanted world
Sofia Sarria grew up in close contact with her family's papier-mâché mask workshop. In 2015, when her father passed away, she decided to carry on the tradition, which was in danger of dying out, but opted for an innovative approach to the business. Sofia set aside the plaster moulds of the traditional masks she had inherited, reclaiming the techniques she had learned while experimenting in new directions. She developed her own method for working papier-mâché without moulds: she creates a cardboard structure, onto which she applies paper pulp while still wet. Once dry, she covers it with one or more layers and decorates it with mixed techniques. The animal masks she brings to life are three-dimensional illustrations from which a colourful fairytale universe emerges.
Interview
- What is your background?
- I went to art school, then the Academy of Fine Arts following a course in computer graphics focusing on stop-motion animation. Animation design was not for me and I chose to focus on painting and papier-mâché, a family tradition.
- Are you giving a future to this long-standing workshop?
- Yes, my parents opened it in 1986, but they had already been making papier-mâché masks for the Venice carnival since the early 1980s. They learnt the trade as students, with the help of professor Antonio di Tuoro, a Neapolitan stage designer.
- How did the idea of 3D illustrations inspired by woodland creatures come about?
- In Venice, greenery is hard to come by. It is something we do not have: there are very few trees, and no forests. I started creating my own universe out of paper because I was looking for a piece of nature with the animals that represent it. They became small sculptures for interior decoration.
- What do you consider to be something that is well made?
- Doing something well by hand is only possible by spending a lot of time on it, which determines the final result. It takes perseverance to improve the process and get closer to the concept. Detail also defines a beautiful product. There is also research, which is indispensable for the form to evolve.
Sofia Sarria is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2000
Works
Where
Sofia Sarria
