Alice Diaz de Santillana: Think Ephemeral
From September 9 to 16, 2019, Chiarastella Cattana (San Marco 3216, 30124 Venice, Italy) hosted a solo exhibition by Alice Diaz de Santillana, presented as part of The Venice Glass Week 2018.
Experiments in glass, archetypes and prototypes, small fragile spaces of shelter—seeds and shells—offered a discreet gateway into the artist’s creative world. Diaz de Santillana’s new glass works stood as some of her earliest explorations in connecting material, memory, and form, quietly narrating multiple stories through their delicate presence.
The exhibition, titled Think Ephemeral, represented the synthesis of her creative and technical experience in Haute Couture and the enduring influence of her family’s legacy in Murano glassmaking—her great-grandfather being the renowned Paolo Venini. These two artistic lineages profoundly shaped the evolution of her aesthetic vision.
"I conceived this project to create a dialogue between the disparate worlds of fashion and glass" Diaz de Santillana explained. Designed as a limited series of Portable Art, the pieces combined traditional Muranese glassblowing techniques with textiles and metals, creating objects that were both artistic and functional. Whether used as clutches, jewelry boxes, or treasured decorative items, each piece was intended to bring a refined and unique atmosphere to any setting.
