Ilary Bottini left her career as a manager to dedicate herself to tapestry weaving. Today she is a textile designer and artist who interprets an ancient art that is now almost completely abandoned in a modern and original way. This is his story.
How it all started
Ilary's passion for weaving was born a bit by chance, turning into something indispensable, as often happens to artists. With her story, she teaches us how with love, talent and discipline she managed to turn it into a profession.
«Once I completed my studies in France, I began my career in the communications sector, first in Paris, where I lived for ten years, and then in Milan. During my time in France I opened a blog dedicated to my passions, with the desire to do something creative that went beyond my office work. I wrote about trends in interior design, with a particular look towards the world of Scandinavian decoration. I also created creative projects for the home, documenting them step by step."
It was precisely in that period that she fell in love with hand weaving and tapestries and, with the desire to tell her techniques and secrets to her readers, she signed up for a workshop where she was able to create her first tapestry.
From that moment Ilary has never stopped weaving.
The turning point and the atelier in Turin
In 2020, having already returned to Milan, Ilary left her job in the company to dedicate herself full time to weaving and fiber art. The pandemic period then gave her time to plan, create a business plan, produce the frames, organize the courses, open a VAT number and set up her website.
Initially she opened her first studio in Milan, at home, until she moved to Turin, where she lives and works today, in her atelier in via Belfiore 39.
«My atelier overlooks the street and is very bright. I like it because it is located in the San Salvario district, which has a strong presence of designers and artists' and artisans' workshops, so it vibrates with a pleasant creative ferment. It's the ideal place to work and organize my workshops."
In the photo Ilary is wearing i Jasmine pants and the Unisex apron
Cotton warp, wool weft, as tradition dictates
Ilary weaves with Sardinian wool. In Sardinia, in fact, the typical wool for carpets and tapestries is still produced, which is very resistant and lends itself very well to being beaten on a loom. Alternatively, use long-staple New Zealand wool or English wool.
In her atelier she creates her contemporary textile works of art and tapestries working on vertical looms, designed by herself. She organizes carpet and tapestry workshops and courses and works on all projects for the production of custom-made frames and frames together with the artisans who support her in the creation. Each phase of the work requires discipline and planning, starting from the preparatory cartoon, a full-scale draft of the tapestry design.
«The preparatory cardboard must be mounted below the frame, therefore, to be clear, mounted on a support behind the frame. On each color field there is the color code that I will use as I weave, so that I can always orient myself. Cardboard is my guide."
If in the technique she remains faithful to tradition, in the subjects and colors Ilary uses geometric designs, with very strong contrasting colors which tend to make an art that many see as old and dusty more current. Tapestries once had a decorative function but also acoustic and thermal insulation. Until the Renaissance they were the most precious works of art, also because they had the advantage and convenience of being able to be rolled up and transported easily.
Techniques and collections
«For my Zen gardens I use the tufting technique: with an electric gun I create three-dimensional volumes in the canvas and then shape them into shapes of different sizes, depending on the project. I am inspired by Japanese Zen gardens, using beautiful hand-dyed thin wools to create these very dense three-dimensional effects. It is a technique that I began to experiment with in 2019 and integrate into my artistic practice in 2023. I often create Zen Garden textiles on commission, some clients ask me to create compositions for them where each member of the family is represented by a different colored shape."
This technique is also used in the “Sequenze” collection, numbered textile works that represent the code of life. Each work depicts an elongated, intertwined and distorted helix of DNA, a bit like life in its infinite vicissitudes and nuances.
Dream big
Today the commissions come both from private clients looking for unique handmade pieces, and from architects and interior designers who wish to enrich their projects with Ilary's works. A good part of the work is also dedicated to the creation of capsule collections for interior decoration or home textile brands, in addition to the pieces that it distributes in art galleries and concept stores abroad.
«My dream now is to create large installations for spaces that can receive them. I imagine institutional places, but also hotels and shop windows of big brands. I would like to transform my work from small to monumental and I would also like to take it increasingly abroad and be able to be represented by an art gallery, perhaps in Northern Europe."
The opportunity to learn
The most varied people participate in its weaving workshops, from young artists who love to master different creative techniques, up to ladies who wish to learn to weave "like grandmother did"; but also people who have a very stressful office job and give themselves two days completely off, away from the phone, to weave their own carpet or tapestry without thinking about anything, in an almost meditative flow. Ilary has imagined weaving workshops lasting one, two or three days, in which you learn the fundamental techniques of warping and weaving tapestries and carpets, creating your own work. On its website it is also possible to purchase a gift voucher to spend on workshops or a work.
«Weaving is certainly an art that trains patience - and I have little of it for things in life in general. But when you see that you are making something from scratch, only with your hands and your creativity, your heart fills with joy. Weaving is the only art in which you create something from the void between two wooden bars, with warp and weft intertwining. You don't have raw material to work with or a blank canvas to fill, you just have a void to fill, and this makes the creative process even more powerful."
Ilary wears i Jasmine pants and the Unisex apron
Photo by Andrea De Clementi
Where to find it
In via Belfiore 39/C in Turin e online. A small selection of his works and tapestries can be purchased on his shop. Come on Instagram Ilary shares her creative process and real life moments at the loom.
Sprouts is the new column dedicated to the stories of those like us who have decided to put our heart and soul into planning a dream. Every month here you can read a new story.
