Sonia Pedrazzini
Walter Usai

Sonia Pedrazzini grew up in Capri and graduated in Industrial Design at the ISIA in Rome. After gaining various professional experiences between Milan and Munich, she moved to Piacenza, where she now lives and works. An eclectic designer, her work spans across design, art and craftsmanship, engaging also in graphic design, consultancy and art direction. She has designed products for the cosmetics industry and collaborated with leading design and fashion companies, often combining her skills with writing and teaching. She has always focused on experimental and more research-based work, straddling between art and design, with a preference for issues relating to the cultural and pop aspects of contemporary society. Influenced by the colours and culture of the Mediterranean, she is inspired by quotations, art and the elements of nature. She designed the “I Geodi” vase collection for Venini drawing inspiration from the world of crystal therapy. Intrigued by the theme of still life, in 1998 she created “Le Morandine”, an ongoing collection of objects inspired by the works of Giorgio Morandi. Her carefully detailed works, characterised by formal elegance and chromatic, poetic and decorative refinement, have been widely published in magazines and exhibited both in Italy and internationally.

Walter Usai is a fourth-generation ceramicist who lives and works in Assemini, a small town in the outskirts of Cagliari that traditionally specialises in the production of earthenware and is officially designated as a "Centre of Historical Ceramic Tradition". The business was first established in 1850 by Walter's great-great-grandfather Efisio, whose legacy was picked up by his grandson Elvio and then passed on to Walter, who proudly carries on this family tradition through his creations made entirely on the potter's wheel. Walter Usai's workshop is a gateway into a unique spatial and temporal dimension. Knowing that tradition must be preserved and, at the same time, updated, Walter revisits the classic forms of Sardinian ceramics in a more contemporary style, playing with shapes and colours. The colour of the sea, in all its hues, is a constant feature of his production, which incorporates family heritage, modernity and his love for his homeland.

portrait by Giulia Camba
still-life by Daniela Zedda