On a recent visit to Florence, I had a the good fortune to meet and spend some time with Marina Calamai, an artist in the truest sense of the Renaissance artist. She is a creator, a dreamer, someone who places follows her inspiration in numerous directions, always creating art in as many varied forms as you can imagine; jewelry, table maps, wall pieces, ceramic pieces, furniture, and installations that combine music with place.
Imagine the works of Donatello, in particular, when first viewed by those who commissioned his work; surprise, perhaps confusion, a stunned sense of not quite understanding? You are beginning to understand the work of this artistic genius.
She traces her ancestry to the generations of the 1500’s in Florence, a family who were involved in the daily lives of Florentines; banking, art, commerce. It is only appropriate that her studio on the the Via Santo Spirito is just steps from Santo Spirito Church, a monument to the creative genius of Fillipo Brunelleschi, architect of the city’s cathedral dome.
To read her bio, provided her from her web site, is only a start as you begin your journey of understanding her vision.
Marina Calamai, Florentine artist and designer (Arezzo 1962). Collaborates and studies in Paris with the stylist Alain Lalou and at the Paris America Academy (1983/85).
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Fashion designer in Florence (1985/97). From 1998 studies art in New York
at the Art Student League with the painter Peter Cox and in Florence at the
Lorenzo de’ Medici with Rose Shakinovsky and Claire Gavronsky. In 2001 she
begins to exhibit her works in public and private spaces.
A gestational diabetes makes her use her natural challenges, inspiring her “Cake thinking” paintings and installations. As a versatile artist, she moved
quickly to jewelry, creating her CHERRY RING collection and the mini and
maxi CUP CAKE in silver alloys, enamel and stones.
Her latest “BACK TO NATURE” project brings her to design the “Vitamin Tables Tableaux” resin tables, and the Vitamin Table mats, coasters and wall watches, dedicated to the colorful world of fruits and nature.
For a long time she has used food as inspiration to create tempting works
of art that awaken the five senses.
‘Cake Thinking’ and ‘Back to Nature’ are her two main fields of research.
Lately investigating the world of nature, she started using geometrical
patterns and sacred numbers series for her work of art and jewelry.