Photography by Valentina Sommariva
Photography by Valentina Sommariva
Photography by Valentina Sommariva
DESIGNER OF THE DAY

Designer of the Day: Osanna Visconti

Osanna Visconti grew up in Rome surrounded by exquisite artworks by Lucio Fontana, Mario Ceroli, and Arnaldo Pomodoro, which surely inspired forays into jewelry and product design. The latter stuck, and now from her newly expanded Milanese atelier she handcrafts nature-inspired “jewels for the home” using lost wax casting—her pieces, which she hand-sculpts from liquid bronze, at once recall the delicate beauty of nature and the glow of ancient times.

Osanna Visconti grew up in Rome surrounded by exquisite artworks by Lucio Fontana, Mario Ceroli, and Arnaldo Pomodoro, which surely inspired forays into jewelry and product design. The latter stuck, and now from her newly expanded Milanese atelier she handcrafts nature-inspired “jewels for the home” using lost wax casting—her pieces, which she hand-sculpts from liquid bronze, at once recall the delicate beauty of nature and the glow of ancient times.

Here, we ask designers to take a selfie and give us an inside look at their life.

Age: 59

Occupation: Designer, creative, artisan. I span across art and technique, beauty, and function. I am not a sculptor nor an industrial designer, even though I share my approach and quest for meaning with design. As a matter of fact, I create useful pieces that span beyond time and space. Pieces I would love to find and use each day.

Instagram: @osannavisconti

Hometown: Milan/Rome.

Studio location: Milan.

Describe what you make: I would define myself as an artisan because I love crafting things, but I also consider myself a designer. I love being in the art foundry, spending my days modeling with my hands.

Photography by Valentina Sommariva
Photography by Valentina Sommariva

The most important thing you’ve designed to date: The counter for Petersham Nurseries in London.

Describe the problem your work solves: My unextinguished primary source of inspiration is nature. “In the silence of a walk in the woods, my attention is captured by a leaf, a fallen branch. One out of hundreds. I choose it and pick it up. It is a gift of nature that I celebrate through my creativity and then freeze in time, transforming it into a piece of bronze. Yes, what I love most about my work is the sense of eternity, immortality.”

Describe the project you are working on now: Presenting my new atelier.

A new or forthcoming project we should know about: A new tableware collection for Christmas.

Photography by Fabrizio Cicconi
Photography by Valentina Sommariva

What you absolutely must have in your studio: Every day, I sit at my workbench, surrounded by wax sheets and endless tools. Classical music in the background. I light the fire, rip pieces of wax, and start warming them and delicately shaping them. From its jagged edges and its changing surfaces—now wavy, now subtly striped—the object I have in mind slowly takes life. And then, a plaster mold and melted bronze casting.

What you do when you’re not working: I travel, sightsee, and visit gardens.

Sources of creative envy: Brancusi for the sinuous and organic lines, which epitomize harmony and perfection.

The distraction you want to eliminate: Playing Solitaire.

Image courtesy of Osanna Visconti
Photography by Valentina Sommariva

Concrete or marble? Marble.

High-rise or townhouse? Townhouse. 

Remember or forget? Remember.

Aliens or ghosts? Ghosts.

Dark or light? Light.

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