“Outdoor monumental sculptures need to be accepted and engage with nature.
Indoor sculptures have to be present without disturbing the surrounding. With jewellery is to make women more beautiful, strong, and secure. The challenge with jewellery is that one is limited with size and shapes, but there is an excitement when it becomes impeccable” Sophia Vari
Elisabetta Cipriani is very honoured to announce the first solo exhibition of Sophia Vari wearable sculptures at the London gallery.
“All Mediums are Noble” will open on the 7th of June and will be on view util July 7th 2023
The gallery will present a total of 40 wearable sculptures of which 13 are exclusively made for the exhibition. “All Mediums are Noble” is an exhibition featuring works from early 2000s to 2023.
The variety of medium present in these works is exceptional and unique. Works made of marble from Thassos, Carrara and Belgium, gold, silver, amaranth wood, Pau Amarelo wood, resin and rock-crystal are chosen to emphasise the composition of volume, form and movement. Sophia Vari has been working in sculpture for over 55 years and the evolution came by itself; one work lead to another and the lines became more precise. Jewellery have a strong influence from her sculptures. Thirty-five years ago, Vari realised that some of her little models that she would mould in plaster to remember the compositions, could become wearable. In them she envisioned the line between function and form experimenting with a wide range of noble and singular materials. For Vari, making jewellery is to go beyond herself, to be more radical and clearer in what she wants to express. “When I create jewellery, I don’t think about jewellery, it becomes jewellery at a later stage. The difference between a sculpture and jewel is that the latter must embellish and reassure the woman who wears it”.
The new body of works are once again breath taking in strength and creativity. Abstraction is refined to the hummed mantra of “Beauty and Harmony” where bold geometric forms are accentuated by colour coming from unconventional mediums. They are sculptures that become wearable with the force of a poetic statement.
New materials such as amaranth wood and resin appeared in front of her by surprise. For this exhibition, Vari was looking for something distinctive and by chance, when looking at the different colours of wood, she discovered the beautiful exotic amaranth wood. What is special about this wood, is that it is green in colour and then in contact with the sun, it transforms and stabilises into pink/purple. This new colour naturally redefines certain forms that the artist perceives differently with the other woods previously used. The other new medium is resin that was also a fortuitous discovery. Vari noticed the beauty of its lightness and transparency; it has a marble like feel that reminds her of the Thassos marble that she uses in her sculptures. The forms are enhanced by gold acquiring preciousness and as a whole they become strong.
Elisabetta Cipriani
23 Heddon St, London W1B 4BQ, Royaume-Uni
07/06/2023 – 07/07/2023