Federica Silvi

Exhibited at DESIGN MIAMI. 2023 An extraordinary work of sculptural furniture, Cibra rises to almost twice the height of most floor lamps. More striking is its uniquely evocative presence, capturing the surreal, paradoxical quality of snakes in their perplexing motion, completely alien and yet totally alive. Cibra has the grace of a swan and the power of the cobra. Federica Silvi (b. 1975) is an Italian architect, designer, and bronze artisan, based in Rome. A graduate from the Art Institute of Orvieto, with a graduate degree from the University of Rome, she was born to a family of bronze craftspeople. Her father is considered Rome’s finest chiseler and she grew up helping him at his atelier in Central Rome in restoration of bronze antiques. From him and from other master craftsmen, she learned the traditional Roman skills: wax modeling, goldsmithing, sand and wax casting, metalsmithing, achieving high skills, and often collaborating with marble workers, ebonists, silversmiths, and foundries. She is passionate about preserving the crafts in bronze in the way they have been traditionally practiced for centuries, and perceives herself as an artist who thinks like an architect and works like an artisan. Always thriving to achieve the highest levels of her crafts, Silvi is a recipient of the 2009 Artistic Warnings Award, by the Municipality of Rome. Materials: patinated embossed copper and partial fire gilding, LED lamp.