COOPERATIVA SOCIALE LA SORGENTE
The artisan workshops of the cooperative La Sorgente were established in 2018 within the day centers Orchidea and Myosotis to offer a work experience to people with disabilities. Over time, the staff organizing the workshops received guidance from numerous local artisans to identify the most suitable techniques for each participant’s individual characteristics.
The products are unique, handmade pieces crafted from wood and clay, in keeping with the traditions of the Aosta Valley. The types of wood used include walnut, chestnut, Swiss pine, maple, linden, oak, and larch.
Animals such as roosters or tatà shaped like horses, ibexes, and cows have, over the years, found a place at regional fairs alongside brightly colored ceramic tableware.
BIANCA AND THE WILD CHILD – LUCIANI Ilaria
Ilaria approached ceramics after having explored other fields and undergone different educational experiences.
First of all, her degree in Linguistic Mediation allowed her to approach the Greek language and the Greek world in general with ease: here she found a second home, the experiences she had in Crete, in particular, became a source of inspiration for her.
Ilaria then attended NABA, New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, and opened a fashion boutique, deepening her artistic and creative side.
In 2020, she finally experimented with working with clay, a material that allowed her to reconnect with nature. Bianca And The Wild Child, her project, was born from this: a bohemian life, at a slow pace, immersed in nature, celebrating small things and the beauty of simplicity.
BAL Claire
A degree in automotive engineering in the drawer, then a career in various national newspapers. At the age of 40, however, Claire decided to leave journalism to devote herself to what she had always wanted to do: creating ceramic works with her hands.
Her focus is on interior decoration: decorations, centrepieces, lamps, paintings, but also everyday objects.
In her workshop in Nus, Claire mainly uses stoneware, which she models both on the potter’s wheel and on a plate, also using a special bending technique she developed.
She loves the depth and versatility of high-temperature glazes, particularly in shades of blue.
Attention to aesthetic rendering is her hallmark.
TAC! ATELIER – GODIO Chantal
After obtaining her degree in ceramics at the Aosta Institute of Art in 1998, Chantal Godio graduated in 2004 from D.A.M.S. (Disciplines of Art, Music and Show) of Turin. After an experience in didactic laboratories at Forte di Bard, in 2014 she opened her own art workshop where she could devote herself to the work of ceramics, the “TaC! Atelier”.
Her production consists mainly of roosters, sheeps and goats, as well as some curious characters (such as the Tueno) and fanciful compositions (such as the Alpine arches) that revisit, in a modern and captivating way, elements of Aosta Vallet folklore.
The distinctive feature of her creations is a continuous reminder of the universe of children, where fantasy and spontaneity merge to give life to unique creations of their kind.
Her colourful glazed ceramics, often combined with wooden components, make her work a fine example of an innovative interpretation of traditional craftsmanship.
LAB5 ATELIER – FIORE Silvia
Born in Genoa but valdostan by choice, Silvia graduated in Architecture and then began a learning path in the field of handmade ceramics, experimenting with combinations of different materials and techniques. Silvia’s intent is to create a bridge between the three architectural virtues of an object (utility, solidity and aesthetics) and expressive authenticity, making herself a shaper of emotions and drawing inspiration from nature. Ceramics is a tool to give substance to the cues that nature whispers to her, season after season. This is how her creations come to life, welcoming natural elements such as plants and flowers of seasons imprinted on ceramics, in a perpetual still image that everyone can feel, experience and use.
KIARI CERAMICS – STEVENIN CHIARA
Chiara has a degree in Business Languages and is a young ski instructor who grew up between Gressoney and Gaby in a family of skiers. However, her passion for skiing goes hand in hand with another love: working with ceramics.
After first taking up the challenge of creating a set of plates, Chiara decided to make it her profession: in April 2023, she took a course, bought her first kiln and, in 2024, opened KIARI Ceramics.
The aim of KIARI Ceramics is to create unique pieces that can accompany people in their daily lives.
Simplicity, versatility and uniqueness are the cornerstones of this creative idea. All the pieces are made entirely by hand, designed and decorated with dedication and attention to detail.
CERAMICA DERBY
Ceramica Derby has been producing handcrafted ceramics of the highest quality for more than 50 years. Thanks to the use of excellent raw materials and the dexterity of skilled craftsmen, it realizes small objects of innovative design and shapes, often combined with local wood inserts. Its main creations include not only colourful enamelled animals and hand-painted cows, but also tableware, gift ideas and items of furniture. Ceramica Derby also produces the historic polychrome tiles created by the well-known and beloved artist, Francesco Nex, using the method he devised.
COCOTATA – GAL Elena
Coco Tata was born from Elena Gal’s passion for ceramics. Her production mainly consists of furnishing accessories such as lamps, squares, hanging writings, but also little animals. The latter in particular play a relevant role for Coco Tata and draw inspiration precisely from the “tatà,” toys on wheels of the Aosta Valley tradition, from which the company takes its name.
Elena uses clays and earthenware, “poor” but fundamental materials to fully express the spirit of Coco Tata.
The artifacts, strictly one-of-a-kind pieces, that is, modeled one by one and without the use of molds, are generally enriched with inserts and complements in old or worn wood and decorated with a characteristic red heart.
TORCHIO Marina
After finishing her university studies in Florence, Marina Torchio discovered a strong interest in ceramics that led her to attend for two years the workshop of the ceramist Renzo Igne in Castellamonte. Thanks to this experience, she identifies the working of the land as the most appropriate technique to express her artistic vocation: she prefers in fact stonewares and earth with a rough material impact, that she models in shapes with robust volumes and surfaces never carefully finished.
As a sensitive artist instinctively, she creates in her artworks a perfect balance of content and form. In fact, she says of herself: “What I love in my work is the possibility to create objects without prefixing any scheme. There is never a project and its faithful realization. It is the knowledge of the matter that allows me to make thought coincide with action in the same moment”.
PANOZZO Paolo
He approached the art of working with ceramics by attending the Regional Art Courses in Aosta and obtained his high school diploma at the Castellamonte Art Institute “Felice Faccio.” Today he devotes himself almost exclusively to the craft by making small ceramic objects inspired by the animal world such as chickens, cows or ibexes, or the universe of children such as rocking horses. Especially with regard to the latter, Paolo loves to combine different materials giving life to his characteristic wooden squares with ceramic inserts. His creations are strictly handmade, colored and glazed.
FAZZARI Michelino
Michelino Fazzari was first a student and then a teacher at the Art Institute.
With a deep knowledge of materials, techniques and processes, he applies his originality and imagination to the creation of both sculptures and refined objects such as majolica, decorated terracotta and stoneware. He also dedicates himself to the design and construction of artistic ceramic stoves that for beauty and functionality can be considered “unique pieces”.
For a few years, he has been working in the Derby Legno Ceramiche workshop with which he shares the spaces.
His son Alessandro has recently begun to follow in his footsteps, experimenting with new techniques and also using metallic glazes applied through different stencils.
CORNAZ Fabio
Fabio approached the craft when he was only 20 years old and began modeling miniatures. Over the years he has participated in a variety of modeling competition and has received national and international recognition.
His passion for sculpture has since turned into work: it is a choice dictated by the satisfaction and tranquility that this profession manages to convey to him. The creative process, in fact, gives him a sense of estrangement from his surroundings.
In addition to sculpture, Fabio currently engages in clay turning of table and furniture artifacts.
With regard to sculpture, which Fabio makes under the pseudonym “Raysor’g,” the inspiration comes from his interest in the human figure, mainly expressed according to the styles of classical and neoclassical art. His favorite materials are clay, wood and stone, often used together.
As far as turning is concerned, however, Fabio works under the stage name “Alchimista Materico” because he implements a very thorough study of the raw material, personally making enamels from the rocks of the Aosta Valley territory.