Ritagli, interview with Elisa Ossino
An object is the concrete outcome of an idea; it is born from an articulated process of translation of a creative and technical project. Elisa Ossino talks about her working method and the genesis of the Ritagli collection, driven by the research for a balance between analogue and digital, tradition and innovation.
A new collaboration with Amini. Ritagli is the name of your new collection, in which each carpet tells a story: where did you take your inspiration from?
The collaboration with Amini is now integrated with a new collection of carpets, Ritagli. Whereas in the first collection I’ve designed for Amini, Teorema, I’ve played with intersections of geometric figures, whose overlaps created a multitude of colors, in Ritagli there is an investigation on the sketch itself, as a spontaneous gesture. I’ve started by drawing different shapes freehand, which I then cut out on fabric and reassembled, as a collage.
Is the creative process more like that of an artist or a designer? In other words, is it a completely free process or does it walk hand by hand with the thought of its final and eventual realization?
The creative process is absolutely free. I think it come closer to an artist’s one as I always begin by picturing an image in my mind. On the other hand, as a designer, I also investigate all the technical aspects of the project.
Do you use an analog or digital approach in your designs?
I use both analog and digital approaches. Initially, I sketch everything on paper, I keep sketching until the picture in my mind becomes clear. Then I move on to a digital translation of the drawing, in which we study proportions and technical aspects.
How and when does the choice of what material and what technique to use happen? Do you have a favorite technique?
No, I don’t have one. The choice of what material and what technique is linked to what you want to obtain. It depends on more factors, such as if you aim for a contemporary effect with a clear definition or if you prefer less defined contours and a more pictorial effect.
How would you define your carpet? Is it more graphic or textural, more characterizing, or comforting?
I like to define the Ritagli collection as poetic and dreamlike. I really like this dreamy aspect of the project. At the same time, it is a collection able to define and characterize the environment.
On what floor would you picture your carpet? In what environment, ideally? Where, in the world?
I would say on a monochromatic floor, without grout lines, in a living room or in a bedroom, with no limits world-wise.
Would you define your designs as an interpretation of the spirit of the times? How would you think the carpet Ritagli will be perceived in a hundred years from now?
I believe that, unconsciously, I tend to translate an image linked to that specific historical moment, but I also try to translate it into an object out of time and out of fashion. I wish Ritagli was still appreciated in one hundred years.
