Elena Redaelli
I'm a visual artist and researcher,
My practice is based on sculpture and installation created through a deep relationship with the place (environmental art) and society (participatory, socially engaged projects).
I explore the matter, transformation, and processes of generation and decay involving different levels of control and challenging the boundaries of authorship and active intervention.
Sometimes the material takes the lead; other times, the participants or the environment does, resulting in a constant transformation, improvisation and exchange.
I apply a practice-based form of knowledge using a cross-pollination of different techniques from craft, sculpture, textiles, and drawings. I value, research and utilise ancient practices: hand-weaving, knitting, crocheting, felting, embroidery and paper-making. My large-scale immersive installations combine slow-paced production techniques with new media such as video and sound.
I hold an MA in Fine Arts from UCA, London, UK, and an MA in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome.
I've been learning, researching and sharing Knowledge in Europe, Asia, the USA, and Africa.
Since 2010, I have exhibited internationally in Norway, Italy, Germany, France, the UK, Korea, Australia, China, Taiwan, and Russia, and I have been an active member of international environmental art movements.
CURRENT AND UPCOMING PROJECTS 2024
2024-25
Simultaneous Arrivals – Artist-researcher. Simularr is an artistic research project on novel forms of collaborative practices within the PEEK framework of the Austrian Science Fund FWF (AR 714-G), running from 2022 until 2025.
TEIAS CRIATIVAS – Artist in residence New Hand Lab (NHL), in Covilhã, Portugal 9.09 I 10.09
RADICI, METAMORFOSI, MESCOLANZE |International Textile Art Biennial Cur. Barbara Pavan, Museo del ricamo e del tessile di Valtopina, PG 5.9 | 8.12.2024
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2024 STRATARIUM - Solo show 25.01 - 15.02 2024 - Amy d Arte Spazio, Via Lovanio 6, M2 Moscova, Milano
2020 Uendelig langsomhed, Trappe Galleriet, Viborg Kunsthall, Denmark.
2019 Care, preserve, connect - Kunst Treff Punkt, Verein für Internationale Waldkunst e.V, Darmstadt, DE 2018 NORI MONOGATARI, Tokiwa Museum, Ube Biennale: International sculpture competition, Ube City, Japan. Unravelled Backgrounds, Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, RU 2017 Story of a Place, Tsung-Yeh art and cultural centre, Tainan, Taiwan
Vestige, Upper Ray Gallery, Treasure Hill, Taipei, Taiwan, Curator: Nicole Lai
Weaving a Better Future, WAB, Beijing, China 2016 Faden Werk, Kunstverein in Bad Godesberg, Bonn, Germany.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS and PROJECTS:
2024
The Soft in You, The Soft in Me – A two-month project promoted by Region Norrbotten, KKV textile laboratory Luleå, Sweden and Supported by “Culture Moves Europe”.
2023
Sculpture by the sea – Bondi Beach, Sydney, AU
Percorso di fede – Land Art Project, Colle Brianza, Lecco, IT
Luco – F’art Spazio Arti Visive Contemporanee, L’Aquila, I
KunstTREFFpunkt, Darmstadt, DE
11th Viviane Fontaine International Paper Triennial, Musèe de Charmey, Switzerland
Xs Project, Galleria di Arte Tessile Contemporanea Gina Morandini, Maniago, PD, IT
Fiberstorming, BAF Bergamo Art Fair and EX ATENEO, BG, IT
Panelist «Material Talk» STEAMhouse, Birmingham City University, UK
2022
Panelist - The routes of Textile Conference, WTA Miami, Art Hialeah-Miami Dade College
Panelist - Contextile Biennial, Guimares, Portugal
Manibus, Ex deposito carburanti, Monopoli, Puglia IT
The Soft Revolution, Busto Arsizio Textile Museum
The Power of Empathy – online exhibition hosted and curated by WEAD
Isola Prossima, site-specific Art project, Lago Trasimeno, PG
Imago Insecta, Dak’Art Off Biennial, Dakar, Senegal (ZAC)
An infinite adventure, AiRV VESTERAALEN, one year project, Bo, Norway
Dialogue with the clouds, Villoslada De Cameros, La Rioja, Spain (ZAC)
Residenza Insecta, RespirArt Parco d’arte a Pampeago, TN
2021
Enclave LandArt, Val de Gallinera, Spain
Land of the flunen – Threads of the past, Neukirchen-Vluyn, De
Environmental Art Symposium 2020 "Interruption. Appearance and Disappearance of Man-Made" on
Tammiku-Kohila trajectory, Kohila, Estonia
Andorra LandArt, Andorra (ZAC)
Duck Residency 2021 ‘Norderns Lys / Nordic Light’, Viborg, DK
2020
Ram – land light festival, Amsterdam, NL
WasteArt – travelling exhibition, Viljandi / Varbuse, Estonia
EB, Museum Schokland, NL
Homar International Performance Art Festival, Arta Art Contemporary Art Institute, Khorammabad, Iran
2019
Abidjan Green Art Biennial, Banko Forest, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Africa/ Interminable Prescriptions for the Plague, Cur. Kairon Lu, MOCA Taipei, Taiwan / I-Park Site-Responsive Art Residency & Biennale, Invited Artist, Connecticut, USA / Shinano Primitive art festival, Invited Artist, August 2019, Nagano, Japan / Duodecimal, Civic Gallery, Barnsley, the UK / NOT out of sight, NOT out of mind, Reuse of Waste through Arts and Crafts / January 2019 – January 2021 Latvia-Estonia / Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project, Cheng Long village, Taiwan / GROUNDSPEAK, invited Artist, Schokland, Holland / FLOM, Dalane Kulturfestivalen, Bjerkreim, Norway / IN RESIDENCE: from the collection of Zarya Centre of Contemporary Art Cur. Alisa Bagdonaite, Andrei Vasilenko, Adel Kim, Zarya, Vladivostok, RU / Madou sugar industry art triennial, Cur. Yves Chun, Eric Chen, Tainan, Taiwan
2018
"Tissage, Tressage", Fondation Villa Datris, France / ErTem, Art festival and Symposium, Budapest, Hungary / Toortuumik Art Festival, Estonia / AIR 2018 exhibition ; Austrlian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Au / Dialoghi di fili", Spazi museali del Filatoio Rosso di Caraglio (Cuneo) 8 giugno - 30 settembre 2018
2017
Proyecto en sitio, Intervention de Paisaje 2017, Umecuaro, Michoacan, Mexico / 'Insideout', Collaborative, environmental tapestry, a collaboration with 再生藝術工坊 CRC – Creative Reuse Centre- Taipei for Jidori Khiang Project, Taipei, Taiwan / Ocean+Human, environmental art festival, Stavanger, Norway / Open Studios at Red Gate Gallery Feijiacun, Beijing, China / "Kunsthåndverkernes stipendsøkerutstilling", Rådhusgalleriet, Oslo, Norway.
2016
"Based on a true story", Guandu International Nature Art Festival, Taipei, Taiwan; "Art transformation", International forest Art path, Darmstadt, Germany; "Rest Art – Trame d'autore", Imbiancheria del Vajro, Torino, IT; Cheng Long Wetlands International Environmental Art Project, Cheng Long, Taiwan.
2015 Forest Art Chengdu “Flowing Inspiration” Du Jiang Yan, China; “Muse diffuse”, Gressoney, Italy; “Kunsthåndverkernes stipendsøkerutstilling” Rådhusgalleriet, Oslo, Norway.
2014 Juleutstillingen , Gallery Puls, Noreimsund, Norway/ “Merletto contemporaneo”, Rosignano Monferrato, Italy/ "Muse diffuse", Gressonay, Italy
2013 “Biennale Giovani Monza” , Villa Reale Monza, MB, Italy/“14 International Triennial of Tapestry”, Muzeum Wlokiennictwa, Lodz, PL ."Buste dipinte, 2013" Spazio Oberdan, Milano, Italy/ “Arte Tessile, Design, opere e spazi” Casa Logrand, Gressonay S.J. Italy
2012 “Nature, human being & Sound, Geumgang Nature Art Biennale ”, Gongju, Korea/“E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle… Il viaggio” San Fedele Gallery, Milan (Italy)/“Fiori d’acciaio / Energia e leggerezza nell’arte delle donne”, Osnago, Milano
2011“Poetic Forest”, Mount Lushan (China)/“Ecoanimali”, Artefiera off, Bologna (Italy)/“Arcaicità e Futuro ecosostenibile”, Novara (Italy)/“Streetartpiu”, Monza, Milan (Italy)/“Science en plein Art”, Museo tridentino di scienze naturali, Trento (Italy)
2010“Space”, Hiroko, via Tortona, Milano (Italy)/“5 International Forest Art-path: Freedom and wilderness”, Darmstadt (Germany)/“Mangia le prugne” Villa Erba, Cernobbio, Como (Italy)/“Mini-art - textil a Montrouge” Hotel de ville de Montrouge, Paris (France)
2009“Miniartextilcosmo” San Franceso’s Church, Como (Italy)/“European art exhibition” La Dante in Cambridge and Alliance Francaise, Cambridge (UK)/“La natura senza mani” (Nature without hands) Villa Greppi, Monticello Brianza (Italy)
ARTISTIC RESIDENCIES:
2023
Stay with me, Cafka BIennial 2023
2022
Manibus, Puglia, IT
2021- 2022
AIRV Vesteraalen, Norway.
2021
Enclave land Art, Val de Gallinera, Spain
2020
Riddergade AIR Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg, Danmark (online)
2019
Cheng Long Air program, environmental art project and community market, Yunlin, Taiwan
Asaki Air, Shinano-Omachi, Japan.
MOKS, WasteArt AIR, Mooste, Estonia.
Dalane kulturfestivalen Flom, Dalane kulturfestivalen, March 2019, Rogaland, No.
2018 AIR program at Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art, Vladivostok, RU
2017 AIR program at Bamboo Curtain Studio Taipei, Taiwan /AIR Tainan, Tsung-Yeh art and cultural centre, Tainan, Tainan / AIR Taipei, Treasure Hill, TAV, Taipei, Taiwan / Red Gate Gallery artist in residence program at the Western Academy of Beijing, China / Air program at the Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, Au.
2016 Meet the Future in Cheng Long, Cheng Long, Taiwan; International Forest Art Path, Darmstadt, Germany; Based on a true story, Guandu International Nature Art Festival, Taipei, Taiwan.
2014 Kunstrnerhuset Messen, Ålvik, Norge June-August 2014
2013 Peacock Gallery AIR, Auburn, Sydney, Australia.
Visiting Artist Program at the Sunshine Paper Studio, Sunshine is a non-profit organisation that supports people with a disability in Pymble, Australia.
CURATED PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS:
2020 – ongoing
Z.A.C. (Zest Art Collective) Art collective. Members: Sally Kidall, Karin van der Molen, Lucia Loren, Imke Rust and Elena Redaelli
2021
Natural dynamic connections – a six-week virtual residency program for Ainin – Curator
LAB SITE project, a virtual residency program to critically discuss and reframe site responsive,
environmental practices.
Participants: Sue Pedley, Lily Balasnova, Agnes Deli, Karin van der Molen, Elena
Redaelli – Co-Curator with Karin van der Molen
COMPETITIONS AND AWARDS:
2019 Reisestøtte fra NK for the project ‘ Care, Preserve, Connect’, Kunstreffpunkt, Darmstadt, DE
2018 1-årig fordypningsstipend fra Kunsthåndverkernes fond
2017 Reisestøtte: Proyecto en sitio, Intervencion de Paisaje 2017, Umecuaro, Michoacan, Mexico.
2016 Reisestøtte fra NK for the project "Natural weaving between Europe and Asia", Taipei Art Village, Taipei, Taiwan;
Reisestøtte fra NK for participating in the symposium and conference "Art Transformation", Darmstadt, Germany.
"RestArt, Young fibre art contest", Special Mention for the novelty of the artwork and its performativity nature, Collezione Civica di Chieri, Torino, Italy
2013 "Biennale Giovani Monza", Artist selected to exhibit, Villa Reale di Monza, MB, Italy
2011 "Premio San Fedele" Artist chosen to participate, San Fedele Gallery, Milan, Italy
2005 Winner of the Academy of Fine Art award for the creation of a bronze sculpture at Massimo del Chiaro Art Foundry, Carrara, Italy
WORKS IN COLLECTIONS:
"Polyporus versipaper", I-Park Foundation, Heast Haddam, Connecticut, USA
"Unravelled backgrounds", Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art Collection, Vladivostok, Ru
"Two times wool, a new beginning", Zarya Centre for Contemporary Art Collection, Vladivostok, Ru
“Le forme del tempo”,2013, Collezione Civica di Fiber Art della Città di Chieri : Trame d'Autore
“Respiro vitale, concetto d’attesa”, 2009, Arte&Arte, Miniartextil collection, Como, Italy
ART WRITING:
Artemorbida Magazine – Author
EDUCATION:
2016-2019
MA Fine Art, UCA, London
Master thesis: 'Dynamic and relational matter', Advisors: Michele Whiting.
2000-2005
Rome Fine Art Academy, Roma, Italy, Sculpture;
Master thesis: 'Art as a form of therapy in Enrico Accatino's textile practice', Advisor: Dario Evola.
1995-2000
Diploma in Fine Arts
Medardo Rosso, School of Art and Design, Lecco, Italy
© 2013 Elena Redaelli