INSPIRATION
In my childhood, amongst the shelves of my grandfather’s library, I discovered a copy of a botanical treatise whose first edition dates back to 1633: De Florum Cultura by Giovanni Battista Ferrari. In this book I discovered for the first time the beauty and perfection of flowers and plants, how each form and colour has an explanation.
It was surely during these moments of clandestine reading that my passion for flora was born. My attention was caught by some plates—engravings by the hand of Anna Maria Vaiana, one of the few known female engravers of that era—which depicted artefacts for preparing floral compositions during ceremonies and banquets. Their function and engineering went beyond a simple container for flowers.
Unconsciously, throughout all these years, the idea of designing and creating with my own hands some artefacts that could help to prepare floral compositions—dynamic and playful at the same time—has accompanied me in the pages of my sketchbook.
ISLAND CONTEXT
Since this island adopted me some years ago, I have discovered the power, strength and resilience of native species: families of plants and flowers that exist uniquely in our islands. Discreet, silent inhabitants who are at the same time protagonists of our coasts and rocky landscapes. Plants and flowers that yield unique essential oils and dyes.
From this immense variety I have imagined gathering some specimens and being able to use them as decoration… but I needed to design and mould some artefacts specifically for this purpose.
The “estepa Joana” (Hypericum balearicum), for example, grows in the mountains, where it displays its yellow flowers and its distinctively shaped leaves.
The Estepa Joana is an endemic species.
Endemic plants are native and exclusive; they are not found anywhere else in the world. Many of them are well known and quite common, such as the jara Joana or the peony, but others live only in inaccessible places, such as cliffs and islets. The Balearic endemic flora is an authentic natural treasure that must be preserved, both for its beauty and for its high scientific value. In the Balearics, there are 124 endemic plant species.
CONCEPT
With this premise, this composition I have called FLORA was born, in honour of the Roman goddess and mother of all flowers. I have rescued these artefacts engraved in my memory, elaborated and reinterpreted. I have imagined the Balearic version of the goddess inhabiting the wildest places of the Tramuntana.
The result is a ceremonial totem composed of individual modules of different forms. With each and every one of them, one is allowed to play, compose and decompose. Some have a double base and can be used in one position or the other, others simply tilt… all together they form a composition that is different each time.
Each and every one is a container or a sculpture in itself.
ARTISAN PROPOSAL
This work proposes a dialogue between the historical tradition of ceremonial floral artefacts and Mallorcan endemic flora, creating a modular system that allows for multiple configurations.
The geometric forms abstract and celebrate the survival and growth strategies of native plants, transforming evolutionary adaptations into sculptural elements.
Each piece functions both as an independent sculptural object and as part of a larger ceremonial ensemble, inviting interaction and compositional play.
The ceramics, with their neutral palette, allow attention to focus on the formal purity that connects contemporary geometry with ancestral botanical wisdom.
FORMAL PARALLELS:
GEOMETRY AND BALEARIC BOTANY
The geometric forms of these ceramic modules establish a direct dialogue with the botanical structures of Balearic endemic species:
Ovoidal and bulbous forms:
Evoke the underground reserve organs of plants such as Paeonia cambessedesii, which develops tubers to survive in the insular Mediterranean climate.
Annular and cylindrical structures:
Reflect the hollow stems and circular growth systems of species adapted to the Tramuntana winds, such as certain endemic grasses.
Cavities and openings:
Reinterpret the internal spaces where plants store water and nutrients, a crucial evolutionary strategy for survival in the arid Balearic environment.
Stackable modularity:
Emulates the stratified growth of Mediterranean vegetation, where each level seeks light in a different way, from ground-cover plants to garrigue shrubs.
