In Venice, where history feels suspended between water and time, artist Irene Cattaneo has found both grounding and momentum.
@_icat_
Working across glass, bronze, and stone, her sculptural language emerges through material, memory, and collaboration with local artisans, blending personal narratives with literary echoes and the city’s layered past.
From the quiet gestures of Murano’s makers to the stillness of the lagoon, her work captures something fleeting yet deeply rooted: a moment held, just before it disappears.
“ The Observatory “ 🪐 🔭 Piazza San Marco 🌌
Eight lunar spheres of Murano glass hang suspended, evoking the planets and reflecting light with quiet intensity. The piece frames the observatory as a space of dream and reflection, where looking outward into the cosmos allows the self to find perspective - where imagination, science, and introspection converge. Venice mirrors this duality: a city of stimulation and inspiration, yet one that offers quiet moments for contemplation, where discovery and introspection coexist.
The spheres themselves are crafted through an alchemy of glass, minerals, and metal powders, layered to create depth, texture, and a subtle, luminous complexity in each piece. Inspired by Italo Calvino’s “Cosmicomics”, in which the universe becomes a lens for thought and wonder:
“You explode, if that’s more to your taste, shoot yourself all around in endless darts, be prodigal, spendthrift, reckless: I shall implode, collapse inside the abyss of myself, towards
my buried centre, infinitely.”
Each sphere becomes a point of reference, inviting viewers to escape into the vastness of the cosmos, to reflect on their place within it, and to inhabit a space that is at once contemplative, imaginative, and transformative.
Thank you @theveniceglassweek@comunevenezia for including me amongst such brilliant 💡 artists and to Fabiano for his mastery and patience 💌 @enricofiorese 📸
From moonlit poems to sculptural alchemy, Irene Cattaneo transforms matter into emotion. For her Paris debut at Galerie Gastou, the Italian-German designer unveils Les Bienfaits de la Lune, a poetic dialogue between craft, technology, and nature.
Each piece glows with quiet tension, where fragility meets force and beauty feels both fleeting and eternal.
a little sneakpeak // For her inaugural solo presentation at Galerie Gastou, Irene Cattaneo has taken a poetic turn. Her inspiration comes from the great French symbolist Charles Baudelaire, whose 1869 poem Les Bienfaits de la Lune describes a child graced by moonlight, which sets her on a lifelong path of aesthetic encounter.
Taking this suggestive text as her point of departure, Cattaneo has created a magical suite of objects in a range of materials – bronze, glass, onyx, upholstery – all transmuted to give the effect of an enchanted nature. To enter the exhibition is like stepping into a pool of moonlight, surrounded by animate forms.
Cattaneo is of Italian heritage, but was raised in Germany and trained at Central Saint Martin’s, in London; now she arrives in Paris, in grand style. This cosmopolitan outlook is reflected in her mastery of several traditional craft processes, notably metal casting, glass blowing, and stone carving, which she sometimes combines with advanced
digital technology.
Her intensive research and form development have generated an impressive body of work, subtle and indeed poetic in its narrative implications, but tremendously powerful in its physical presence. Cattaneo has been a rising star for several years; with this exhibition, she takes her place in the design firmament, sharing her illumination with us all.
The exhibition is presented in collaboration with Lo Studio-Nadja Romain (Venice).
Irene Cattaneo is now on view at Dragon Hill Residence.
We are delighted to showcase works by German-Italian artist Irene Cattaneo, whose sculptural and functional designs harmonize beautifully with the organic architecture and poetic spirit of Dragon Hill.
Crafted from materials such as Murano glass, bronze, marble, and stone, her pieces explore the interplay between light, form, and materiality. This tactile and fluid approach echoes the natural curves and immersive environments envisioned by Jacques Couëlle, whose architectural masterpiece embodies a deep connection to nature.
Irene’s practice bridges sculpture, narrative, installation work, design, and craftsmanship, creating a seamless dialogue with Dragon Hill’s serene, handcrafted ethos.
Recently featured in Elle Décoration, her work enriches the residency’s atmosphere of creativity and timeless elegance.
@irene.cattaneo@dragonhillresidence@elledecor@lostudio_nadjaromain
