Avante Collection in progress...

Collection Avante is about the world of ideas and the "magical" (astonishing and inexplicable) aspects that are part of the creative process: inspiration, intuition and synchronicities.

It is a very abstract subject. Above all, it suggested to me images and sensations, which I took as a starting point: to free oneself, flying, daring to jump, floating. Textile mazes* and in gardens*, getting lost, finding oneself. Artists like Kupka and abstract art, veiled meanings. Minerals and gemstones, their geometries, the work of cutting and polishing. Building blocks and geometries*, chaos and order. Pieces and gears coming together to form objects, robots*. Escher and his drawings of "things" that, almost without realizing it, become "other things". Seeds, growth, the miracle of life. What is not visible to the naked eye, cells, the complex structures that are discovered by looking through a microscope. Electricity, light, "the light bulb that turns on", discoveries.

(References: Photographs by Magnus Klackenstam for fashion designer Erik Bjerkesjo | Textile mazes: Himo Art | Gardens: Versalles | Paintings by František Kupka | Gemstone paintings by Lara Meyerratken | Geometries by Sophie Smallhorn | Robots by Pitarque Robots | Drawings by M.C. Escher | And other images, authorship unidentified, obtained via Pinterest.)

In a creative process there are very magical moments of enthusiasm, but there are also "those others", of blockage, of getting lost and not seeing the way out. That's why the collection is called Avante, as an inner "war cry", to persevere, to not give up, it's a powerful: Forward!!

I like to personalize the labels in each collection, so that they are one more element of the story I want to tell.

In Avante, the labels are paper boats, inspired by the nautical theme of the word "avante" and the image of the boat that moves forward. In my mind, there's a childhood song: "Sailing fearlessly in the sea is the best, no reason to tremble. And if a black storm comes: laugh, row, and sing" :D

An image of the complete collection in sketches. From when it was still "just" ideas:

The collection is composed of three families, each with its own print, which is somehow associated with a different moment in the creative process:

Nets as structures that serve as a base, the beginnings of an idea. Dare to try. They are also labyrinths where everything starts...

Cycle refers to the process itself, the intermediate steps, doing and undoing. Trying, shaping as you go...

MagicEye are those moments of "understanding" when ideas start to become clear and seem to find their own order...

These are the working models I made for the images above. Miniature sets representing the prints of each family, imagining how they could look in 3D: