TRENDS: Flower Power by Cristina Morozzi

Nature has always been a source of inspiration for artists. Read the article by Cristina Morozzi to discover how Nature has affected the work of designers and brands of jewellery, such as Giulia Boccafogli and Ornella Bijoux, and find out their stories on Design Italy.

Olaf Hajeck, a German artist in love with nature, dedicated to plants the illustrated volume "Flower Power: The gentle strength of plants" (Rizzoli, Milan March 2021, Italian edition). He states that nature is not only beautiful but also healing. Let us mention medicinal plants or butterflies that, flying from flower to flower, pollinate to ensure reproduction. Trees, plants, flowers and insects provide for our lives. 

Through photosynthesis, green plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere in return, purifying the air. Nature guarantees our survival by providing food and air, fibres, materials for artefacts, and last but not least, regulating the climate.

Being the origin of life, nature is a source of inspiration for many artists. Not only painters, illustrators, photographers, but also designers of fabrics and jewellery. 

Nourished is the repertoire of ancient and contemporary jewellery and bijoux in the shape of insects, flowers and leaves. Among modern creatives, let us mention the author of collections of artistic-sartorial bijoux Giulia Boccafogli.

Her collections are made with scraps of leather, which draw from nature their primary source of inspiration, as in the Foliage and Florilegio series, declined in pastel colours, stolen from the spring season.

While the collections of Ornella Bijoux, one of the most important signatures of Italian artisan jewellery since 1944, include elaborate butterflies, snails, fish, silver and brass lizards dotted with coloured stones, which reveal a one of a kind fantasy and virtuous craftsmanship.

Ornella Bijoux, iconic representative of the Milanese school of jewellery, had a prominent place in the important exhibition "The Art of Italian Bijoux", curated by Alba Cappellieri at Palazzo Reale in Milan in 2016.

Giulia Boccafogli's and Ornella Bijoux's items are available on Design Italy.

Cristina Morozzi