Water, Light, Life.
In collaboration with Nicoletta Lanati
Glass, recovered textiles and the poetry of transformation.
Some encounters begin with admiration, others with curiosity. And then there are those in which two creative sensibilities recognize one another and, almost naturally, find a shared language.
This is how MEDUSE was born — a new project by Vanessa Stella – UNICA Art for Your Space, in collaboration with Nicoletta Lanati, an artist who has long explored the transformation of threads and textiles from the world of haute couture, giving new life to materials that might otherwise be discarded.
Two suspended jellyfish, light and almost ethereal, emerge from the encounter between two seemingly distant materials: glass and textile.
An image born from the sea
The project began with a precise vision from Nicoletta.
“While working on their creation, I imagined myself in a marine environment.”
Glass, with its transparency and infinite possibilities of transformation, became the starting point for an imaginary journey into the Mediterranean.
“A dive, eyes wide open, into the wonderful Mediterranean Sea, its beautiful colours fading from light to dark as I move deeper, wanting to touch the seabed.”
And it is within this imagined immersion that the jellyfish appear:
“Along this journey, jellyfish pass by — beautiful, fascinating, mysterious and elegant creatures.”
From this image, the form takes shape.
At the heart of each jellyfish, the distinctive UNICA form is reinterpreted in glass and transformed into a sculptural element. No longer simply a symbol of identity, it becomes the heart of the artwork, embracing and supporting the textile matter.
Around the glass unfold threads, fibres, ribbons and textures recovered from haute couture textile production. What was once destined to be discarded acquires a new life: threads become tentacles, textiles become movement, while glass becomes body, light and transparency.
Each element differs in colour, texture and movement. Every MEDUSA is therefore a unique and unrepeatable artwork.
The beauty of transformation
Sustainability is an integral part of Nicoletta Lanati’s artistic research and one of the deepest points of connection with the vision of UNICA.
“Glass, an extremely sustainable material, is absolutely in line with the philosophy of my courses. Glass can always be recycled, it does not pollute, and the threads I use — textile waste from haute couture production — become the tentacles.”
The project is rooted in the desire not to consume new materials, but to transform what already exists, discovering new potential within it.
A thread that has already had a life becomes part of a new story. A material destined to be forgotten acquires a new presence in space.
This is where Nicoletta Lanati’s research meets the philosophy of UNICA Art for Your Space: in the ability to move beyond the original function of matter and transform it into experience, emotion and art.
Water as memory and future
There is, however, a deeper meaning.
Water has long been central to the awareness and sustainability work Nicoletta shares through her courses with children.
To preserve water, the sea, oceans and rivers is to preserve life itself.
MEDUSE also emerges from this awareness: creatures imagined in the heart of the Mediterranean that, through art, become an invitation to look more carefully and respectfully at the world around us.
“The combination of these elements made it possible to create the two jellyfish.”
Two artworks born from the encounter between art, matter, sustainability and imagination.
Suspended in space, they seem to continue floating through water.
Glass becomes body.
Threads become tentacles.
Light becomes water.
The UNICA form becomes the heart of the composition.
And what was once destined to be discarded finds a new existence.
MEDUSE
Water, Light, Life.
In collaboration with Nicoletta Lanati
Glass, recovered textiles and the poetry of transformation.
