Chymia™ evokes the alchemical process of transformation of raw material. A metamorphosis that marks the beginning of a new journey, which will develop into a range of heterogeneous collections of surfaces and furniture linked by a common thread: the desire to explore and overcome the limits of matter. The project come to life through the collaboration with Laboratorio Avallone, Milano-based studio led by Gennaro Avallone, whose’s research reaches into the applied arts, drawing on the arts of painting and sculpture to create unique and very special objects of contemporary furnishing.
The first concrete expression of this study consists of a brand new interpretation of black and white, developed with the aim of making a break with traditional styles, to restore strength and an original quality to ceramic as a material, with unexpected outcomes.
The collection consists of a series that fluctuates between the discipline of graphic design and the expressive gestures of mark-making as well as between the two extremes of black and white, in which symbols and textures are combined to create patterns of light and shadow on the surface. Black forms the basis: in the distinctive black of Gennaro Avallone synchronicity takes place between evocation and abstraction. The shades of black originate from Pompeian paintings, Indian ink, the superb black of the vases excavated in Paestum or from the black of incandescent molten lava – there are abundant references and synergies. Black and white are never separate but co-exist.
