Born in Muggia in 1937, Emanuela Marassi first studied painting, then joined the atelier of Pietro Dal Grande, Venetian master of inlays. Hence, she opened her own workshop and, starting from 1961, she collaborated with the architectural firm Cervi, Frandoli and Nordio for interior design projects for public spaces and ships.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emanuela Marassi's work has developed overtime into art but her first steps were in the field of applied arts and naval furniture. The inlaid panels she signed with Augusto Cernigoj, student at Bauhaus, represent a thread that links Friuli Venezia Giulia to the great history of design, as well as our arts&crafts tradition to the current contaminations of ArtDesign.

'Zebrani', bookends with  ebony and zebrawood inlaid, 1991.

 

Glass designed for Graalglass at the international design competition 'Trieste Contemporanea', 2008.

Polyptych of sacred art, wood and copper inlay, designed by Augusto Cernigoj and made by Emanuela Marassi, 1966.

 

Designed by Augusto  Cernigoj and made by Emanuela Marassi, 'Stills from a market in Trieste' is a series of inlays for decorative panels inside  the Kulturni Dom  in Trieste,  now SSG–TSS Teatro Stabile Sloveno, 1964.

 

 

 

'My teacher Augusto Cernigoj taught me how to 'tame' materials. "Nothing is impossible", he once told me.'
Emanuela Marassi

 

Emanuela Marassi, opere, catalogo a cura di Giuliana Carbi

Boico, Frandoli, Nordio, Cervi. Interni navali tra arte e design

 

Marassi e il rosa di una ribelle

'Self-portrait'; an engraved inscription reads  'Se si ama una merla' (meaning "If you love a blackbird"), an anagram of Emanuela Marassi’s name; 2018.

(ph. Margherita Barnabà)

Marassi's artistic work shows a keen interest in common materials and techniques. This piece of art is a good example of her passion for elements such as cellophane and crystal glass.