THE MISSION PROJECTS presents a solo booth in the Focus section that features Argentine multidisciplinary artist Nicola Costantino. Works from two of Costantino’s recent series, Kiosco de Flores (Flower Kiosk) and PaRDeS, are showcased, including both floral sculptures and ceramic murals. The works are made using the highly meticulous Japanese Nerikomi technique, a process that involves the use of colorful clays that have been combined, pressed, and arranged to form a patterned block. The blocks are then cut crosswise into 3-millimeter sheets, revealing striking and elaborate designs that extend throughout the entire piece, making them a permanent and distinctive feature, unlike surface glazes. Costantino’s process is a unique and contemporary interpretation of the Nerikomi technique, incorporating neo-baroque forms and colors.
Kiosco de Flores (Flower Kiosk) showcases a physical kiosk within the booth that features various floral ceramic works inspired by the plant world. Run by the artist herself, the kiosk offers floral works of art that are comprised of the clay sheets, shaped by the artist into the form of flowers and leaves and then crimped on metal stems. Flowers, a symbol of brevity, represent the fleeting nature of life. This work proposes a different way of circulating art: one that does not respond to hierarchies, but to a genuine desire to surround oneself with beauty.
Constantino’s ceramic art revives ancestral wisdom for contemporary times. Her murals from the PaRDeS series each consist of a wide variety of her Nerikomi clay sheets. Pardes in Hebrew primarily means orchard or garden and is often translated into “paradise.” “PaRDeS is fire, earth, and water,” Constantino contends. “It is matter reaching its maximum potential. To be PaRDeS is to understand the fleeting nature of life. To find a way to stop time. A gift. And it is beauty, awakening the sense of touch, living with beauty, it is to fall in love.”
Nicola Costantino is a multidisciplinary artist working with sculpture, fashion, installations, photography, and video. The body is often the focus of her investigation, and she denounces the violent treatment that the body receives at the hands of consumption and fashion. Her works capture both an acute sense of beauty and a certain atmosphere of discomfort that is hard to resolve. Her interest in video performance led her to create the self-referential work Trailer (2010), her first film production, and to tackle a paradigmatic historical female character such as Eva Perón in Rapsodia Inconclusa (55th Venice Biennale).
Kiosco de Flores (Flower Kiosk) showcases a physical kiosk within the booth that features various floral ceramic works inspired by the plant world. Run by the artist herself, the kiosk offers floral works of art that are comprised of the clay sheets, shaped by the artist into the form of flowers and leaves and then crimped on metal stems. Flowers, a symbol of brevity, represent the fleeting nature of life. This work proposes a different way of circulating art: one that does not respond to hierarchies, but to a genuine desire to surround oneself with beauty.
Constantino’s ceramic art revives ancestral wisdom for contemporary times. Her murals from the PaRDeS series each consist of a wide variety of her Nerikomi clay sheets. Pardes in Hebrew primarily means orchard or garden and is often translated into “paradise.” “PaRDeS is fire, earth, and water,” Constantino contends. “It is matter reaching its maximum potential. To be PaRDeS is to understand the fleeting nature of life. To find a way to stop time. A gift. And it is beauty, awakening the sense of touch, living with beauty, it is to fall in love.”
Nicola Costantino is a multidisciplinary artist working with sculpture, fashion, installations, photography, and video. The body is often the focus of her investigation, and she denounces the violent treatment that the body receives at the hands of consumption and fashion. Her works capture both an acute sense of beauty and a certain atmosphere of discomfort that is hard to resolve. Her interest in video performance led her to create the self-referential work Trailer (2010), her first film production, and to tackle a paradigmatic historical female character such as Eva Perón in Rapsodia Inconclusa (55th Venice Biennale).
Nicola Costantino