ROSE DE NOUR
BELONGING AND BEING
Interview by Alvis Choi
Photography by Rose de Nour (Giorgia Piu)
Rose de Nour (Giorgia Piu) is an artisan, earth artist and ceramist. Born in Rome with a Mediterranean soul from Sardinia and Southern Italy, her roots disclose a love for craftsmanship, design, arts, and earth which has been passed from generation to generation.
Rose de Nour (Giorgia Piu) is an artisan, earth artist and ceramist. Born in Rome with a Mediterranean soul from Sardinia and Southern Italy, her roots disclose a love for craftsmanship, design, arts, and earth which has been passed from generation to generation.
Rose de Nour brings to the world different objects, unique pieces, and ceramic sculptures that have their own life and hide all sorts of emotions. Read on to learn more about Giorgia’s creative process, inspiration, and what drew her to the medium.
Hi Giorgia! Can you please begin by briefly introducing yourself and what led you into working with ceramics?
Giorgia: I am a design and architecture lover with a great desire to express my creativity and my inner self. A desire that made me follow several courses that led me to different paths and that shaped who I am today. I got into Ceramics thanks to a friend who attended a Ceramics course in my neighbourhood. Intrigued since the very beginning, I joined the class and as soon as my hands touched the clay, I recognised a strong connection and a fine sense of belonging.
From that moment on, clay has become with no doubt my greatest life partner.
There is a sense of subtlety and poetry in your ceramics. Can you tell me a little more about your creative process?
G : Thank you so much. Well, freedom of mind and soul is what stands behind my creative process. Once I step into the lab, my mind leaves all the problems at the door and my hands are fully focused to create beauty in free movement. Isn’t that magical?
What are some of the techniques you use to create the organic forms and movements as seen throughout the work?
G : I mainly use the sculptural coil technique which I absorbed from my ceramic master. It is a technique that I have learnt after long months of continuous work, which allows your creations to flow in the movement.
What is your daily source of inspiration? Is there anyone, in particular, you look up to?
G : My biggest inspiration is nature in its purest form and essence, not to mention foreign and ancient cultures. I am fascinated by contemporary arts and by artists who create visions through these fusions (Ruth Duckworth, Frida, Picasso etc.).
You have an international background, being born in Rome with Mediterranean blood from Sardinia and Southern Italy. How has this left a mark on your work?
G : The Mediterranean roots keep me anchored in the search for organic forms, natural matter, and pure love for all that is alive, nature. At the same time, I deeply love clean and soft lines, which come from different parts of the world and time (i.e. Neolithic). I believe it is extremely fascinating to bring into the present what has been transferred over the years and centuries from our ancestors.
What are some of the pleasures of working with your hands?
G : I enjoy creating a piece which you know it is unique because it comes from your hands and soul, it makes me feel so good.. together with the deep sense of stillness and challenge at the same time that each work of art leads to. I could not live without it anymore.
What do you want people to do or feel when they encounter your creations?
G : I would love that people could feel something special and unique by observing my works from different angles and perspectives, like the feeling of a hug for instance.
Could you please share one of your latest pieces / collections and the emotion you sought to convey?
G : One of the latest collections I feel to share is called “Roots”. It came out during a period of deep inner suffering, caused by the latest facts that shook the world, war, pandemic and incredible external chaos. That’s when I stopped and felt the need to go back to the roots. Strength is what this collection wants to convey, a strength hidden inside us that reminds us who we are, what we believe in, and our inner Child. "Roots" represents that safe place where you can find shelter during stormy times, which protects us and also develops strong wings in us to allow us to be free and fly again after the dark.
What do you think have been the most significant moments in your career as an artist?
G : One of the greatest moments is when I flew back to Sardinia for 5/6 months and lived at my uncles' house (my aunty is a painter and my uncle is an architect). Those days I looked deeply into myself, the awareness of wanting to create something that represented me at 360 °started to arise: I needed to find my way, no matter what.
Another significant moment was when I met my master Libero Ortuso. He welcomed me under his wing and thought me his knowledge throughout the days with a main priority: to find my own artistic identity.
What are you working on now?
G : At the moment I am focusing my energies to develop the artistic side of Nour. I dedicate myself hours and hours, day after day looking for shapes and forms of expressions but above all without any mental obstacle and without any fear. Honestly, what will come out from this evolutionary period will be totally a surprise, but I strongly feel that these are the steps I should take right now, we will see!
