Bio
Vanessa Carlesso Bortignon is a visual and tactile artist working primarily with ceramics and textiles, alongside other materials chosen in response to each project. Her practice explores the relationship between body, material, and the surrounding environment — understood as a space that shapes and is shaped by our presence. Through sculptural and process-based works, she investigates how gesture, form, and texture can express the tension between softness and structure, intimacy and resistance.
History
Vanessa Carlesso Bortignon (1996, Italy) began her artistic journey studying Product Design in Nove, a city known for its ceramics tradition. She later earned both BA and MA degrees in Sculpture in Venice, with an Erasmus period at the Academy of Fine Arts in Granada (Spain), focusing on installation, foundry, and ceramics.
From 2022 to 2024, she taught sculpture and printmaking at Artismo, an atelier for neurodivergent artists in Italy. She has also led sculpture and clay workshops for adults and children in New Zealand.
Her recent exhibitions include Cinema Bianchini / A Waking Dream (duo show, Nelson, 2025), Metz and Trento Twin Cities (group show, Metz, 2024), and Vicine Distanze – Il Fiume e la Città (Pisa, 2023). In 2022, she was selected for the Sculpture in Stone Residency at Casa C.A.V.E (Aurisina) and received an award for her solo exhibition Pane Quotidiano at Spazio Piera (Trento).
Vision
Art is a human manifestation that speaks of the environment we inhabit, the relationships we weave, and the fragile nature that defines us as beings. We are not eternal or stable; rather, we exist in a delicate balance of opposing forces, where even small shifts can reshape our habits and perceptions.
I see myself as a sum of fragments—experiences and ideas that coexist in tension. Working mainly with ceramics, textiles, and various materials chosen for each project, I engage in a tactile dialogue with the materials—each living, evolving, and carrying its own history.
My practice explores the balance between softness and rigidity, body and space, control and adaptation. Often, I introduce a subtle irony to challenge expectations and invite reflection. Through this process, I reveal delicate transformations that connect us to the materials and environments that shape us.
