The ARTIST

Alice Ronchi (b.1989) is an Italian artist who lives and works in Milan. She gained her BA at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti (NABA) in Milan in 2012, and her MA at the department of Material Utopias at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, in 2015.
In 2014 she started her collaboration with Francesca Minini Gallery (Milan).

In Alice Ronchi’s sculptures and installations everyday objects meet the world of invention and fantasy. The search of wonder is a constant theme in her work, populated by familiar yet enigmatic figures, the product of an abstract reworking. Somewhere in between playful and minimal, her work is a perfect synthesis between simplicity of expression and complexity of forms and meanings.
With the use of different media, ranging from sculpture to photography, from performance to video, Ronchi questions the world through a careful and curious gaze, giving us her magical vision.

The Residency

In October and November 2019 Alice Ronchi spent a five-week residency at Lottozero, working on a new project focused on sexuality and the intimacy of the body.

The artist sourced different kind of fabrics in the textile district and experimented with the techniques and expressive possibilities of textiles.
A distinctive feature of the project was the decision to devote part of the residency to a moment of training and knowledge of new textile techniques, through the involvement of external experts and the active participation of the Lottozero team. Part of the residency was therefore a moment of learning and free experimentation with fabric, a material chosen for its intrinsic quality and tactile sensoriality.

TEXTILE TECHNIQUES

Embroidery, knitting, sewing, sublimation printing, dyeing, tapestry and weaving are the textile techniques Alice Ronchi practiced and experimented during her stay at Lottozero.

Tapestry and weaving workshops were organized on 8 and 15 October, with the aim of introducing new textile techniques to the artist, but also addressed to the external public.
At the end of this phase of study and laboratory practice, the artist gave shape to the project, deciding to divide it into two distinct parts and to develop in Lottozero the first chapter of the research, entitled Soft Feelings Part I (Anatomy Class), structured as a lexicon of anatomical parts, erogenous points, irregularities and particularities of the body, treated with the different textile techniques learned during the residency.

workshop with schools

Part of Alice Ronchi’s research on sexuality was also carried out through educational activities with schools in the province of Prato, involving children aged between 13 and 15 years. The workshops, aimed at raising awareness of a possibility of representing the human body in its most intimate aspects through an artistic language, have been documented and included in the exhibition project.