years of craft, always with the same passion
training
Manuela Telesca was born in Potenza, Italy, and qualified in goldsmithing (Accademia Riaci, Florence) then in advanced jewellery and the study of gems (Accademia delle Arti Orafe, Florence). After this academic study, she spent many years passionately working with Florentine goldsmiths, while studying sculpture. Returning to Potenza in 2000, she opened her atelier, where today she creates work that intertwines metals with precious stones: unique pieces, limited runs and varied collections.
Manuela has always had an interest in working other materials, above all bronze, iron, wood, putty and colours, and this expresses itself in a variety of sizes, from beautiful miniatures to large sculptural groups in multiple materials.
jewellery and sculpture
The creative dualism between the micro and the macro never ends with time – but there are periods when one or the other passion prevails, or that the jewel acts as the the conceptual precursor of the sculptural object, or vice versa.
It is this continuous migration between small and large shapes that fosters a disruptive imaginative capacity, the manifestation of artistic thought in continuous development.
Manuela Telesca
master of made-to-measure, exclusive, renaissance-inspired jewellery and ready-to-wear collections
The place where Manuela works in the city of Potenza is magical, surrounded by greenery. Here she can make all her creations in a very personal way.
With the help of her staff of excellent artisans, she can experiment constantly with new forms and procedures, which over the years have resulted in the beauty and wearability of her various collections.
The jewellery Manuela makes never falls back on old designs. It conveys to its wearers something instinctive yet sophisticated, the essence of its designer's eclectic style.
One of our brand's choices is to offer jewellery at various price thresholds, producing the same design in different versions – gold, silver and bronze, with and without precious and semi-precious stones – so that all can enjoy their beauty. The materials may vary but their beauty is unchanged.
jewellery collections on display
Manuela considers herself an artisan. She loves to make things, to sculpt materials, create forms. She is always ready to break things down and start again. Her trusty allies are always the same: metal and fire.
Her craft began long ago, in 1991 (before which she was studying and after which she worked for many years under the watchful eye of Florentine master goldsmiths).
From 2004 to 2016, she took part in 16 collective exhibitions with installations and artistic jewellery. Three were particularly personal: “Fuoco, martello e ingegno” in 2004 at Galleria Teknè in Potenza, “Fluide Metamorfosi” in 2008 in the Provincial Museum of Potenza and in 2015 at the Porta Coeli International Art Gallery, which led to “Tales of Flames”, an anthology exhibition of sculptures, still with installations and artistic jewellery.
This gallery, curated by the artist, selected and accredited her for the 10th edition of the Florence Biennale (2015), with her work "Sipario".
In 2017 she presented the jewellery collections that accompanied her small sculptures in bronze or silver, at Inhorgenta in Munich, where she gained international attention.
In 2018 she was chosen to take part, with precious sculptural jewellery, in an exhibition in Armenia, “Tesori contemporanei sul 40° parallelo nord. L’Armenia accoglie l’arte italiana della Basilicata”.
The exhibition, held in the capital of Yerevan in August 2018, was part of an artistic and cultural exchange between Armenia and Basilicata and the result of a collaboration between the Porta Coeli International Art Gallery and the Nur Art Gallery in Yerevan.
Also in 2018, Manuela presented a new collection, "Future al White – Milano Women’s Collections and Accessories", of jewels that act as miniature sculptures, with contemporary designs and an eye on style, a defining feature of her art. The collection paid homage to her native region.
“No one had ever made jewellery that recalled the Lucanian countryside”; this selection of jewellery has drawn inspiration over the years from:
- the shapes of the landscape of Basilicata (the peaks of the mountains, the fairy-tale houses carved out of the tuff at Matera, the rough Calanchi with the scars of time)
- the many jewels discovered at various sites in Lucania
In 2019 she was given a special mention by the jury at the Mediterranean Contemporary Art Prize in 2019 at Matriarche (for a sculpture in bronze, stone and iron).
In 2020 two collections took shape: “Asymmetric” and "The Other".
The first has extroverted, refined overtones, almost primitive roots that caress and rest naturally on the body, which is an essential of design, like comfortable wearability and no fastenings.
The second collection is different from all the others. It is marked by width and alternating gaps that lend themselves to the light. Its architecture conveys journeys, with corners of beauty marked by precious stones.
In March and September 2022, two pieces of jewellery (a ring and a bracelet), from "The Other" collection, were chosen for the exhibitions "HOMI - Milano: BE FREE Fashion & Jewels" and "Visions of Tomorrow Fashion & Jewels Exhibition" (in collaboration with POLI.DESIGN), to represent the mature artwork of Manuela Telesca.
In August 2022 Manuela's art won her the Heraclea prize, founded by the director Mario Carlo Garrambone to recognise Lucanians who have made their mark by promoting Basilicata, in or outside of the region.
Her link with the region was further welded in 2022 when she made small bronze sculptures of:
- the
coat of arms of the Basilicata region, with four waves representing the region's four rivers, the Agri, the Basento, the Bradano and the Sinni, “shared identifying symbols for Lucanians". The coat of arms sculpture will be a prize, symbolising the region, its history and resources, which the regional government will bestow on people who have made their mark in Italy and internationally.
- A
door that “represents the old entries to medieval towns and the steps, a clear nod to the heights of Potenza.” This too is a prize, to be given to winners of Visioni Verticali, Potenza's cinema festival, founded to honour new Italian and foreign films.
In 2023 (February and September), two more selected gems for Visionaries. The exhibitions that "embrace the most innovative proposals capable of setting the pace for trends," organised by Homi Fashion & Jewels in collaboration with Polidesign (Milan), will showcase in the February event a bracelet with futuristic geometries from the FUTURA collection. The bracelet is "egocentric" in its complex simplicity.
Meanwhile, in the September event, in the section dedicated to handmade jewellery, a very current design necklace has been selected. It is a charming, extremely feminine drapery inspired by the pattern of a cluster of links, belonging to an ancient bronze mesh belt from the 6th century BC (Guardia Perticare - Potenza). It is fascinating to transpose ancient signs and techniques into a contemporary context and even more so to promote, with a piece of jewellery, the region of Basilicata, making it present in one of the undisputed international fashion cathedrals.
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Via Rifreddo 114
85100 Potenza
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