Domitilla Biondi

Domitilla Biondi graduated as a graphic designer in Milan in 1996 before working as an interactive freelance designer in Milan and London for over a decade. She then founded her own multidisciplinary studio, Ekidna Design Bureau, focusing on consulting clients and blue-chip agencies. She also dedicated a few years to teaching web design. Her father passed away from cancer in 2011, an experience that made her increasingly uncomfortable with her career. Following self-exploration and studies in sound healing with harmonic frequencies, she abandoned technology in order to reconcile herself with her inner creativity and develop her consciousness. In 2013 she started to explore paper carving, from large figurative pieces to smaller ones with abstract themes, and by the end of 2014 she finally felt that the technique had begun to flow. In May 2016, following years of exploration, Domitilla fully dedicated herself to her craft.

Domitilla Biondi carves her creations directly on thick ivory watercolour paper using surgical scalpels. She works in a meditative state. Patiently, and meticulously, she cuts into the paper layers, and lifts each segment one by one. There is no additional colour; the image is born from the nuances and contrast of the shades created by the white cuts against the white background. Colour hues vary depending on the slant of the paper and ambient light, revealing natural ivory shades from inside the bas-reliefs, on the plain white paper. She does not use any previous design, but just lets the form flow out onto the paper. Each piece is inspired by the unique moment in which it is made and is unrepeatable. The outcome is always a surprise to Domitilla.

Domitilla Biondi uses ivory white watercolour paper as the support for her works, whose beauty is revealed by an interplay of light and shadow, and whose bas-reliefs create emotional effects. This makes her work extremely difficult to photograph. Her intention is to explore the potential of this technique’s beauty. Domitilla’s parallel path as sound healer therapist deeply influences her creative activity. The body’s harmonic frequencies at the moment of the paper carving manifest as Harmonia, made visible by the shape of logarithmic spirals, varying from very symmetrical patterns to more “chaotic” panoramas. In each case, the subtle frequencies are always present, both in the smallest details and the general composition.

Magnae Chartae Exhibition