Sissi on Ceramics, Performance, and the Body

Sissi (Daniela Olivieri, born 1977 in Bologna) lives and works between Bologna and London. Her interdisciplinary practice merges anthropology, archaeology, and literature with performance and manual craft. For years she has worked with ceramics. In 2011 she described her diaries as a unified work, an alveare or ossuary of books. She began diaries in 1995 using used notebooks, later hand-bound white pages with drawings, collages, and photos taken with her mother's Nikon F2 analog camera. Photography taught her to connect with others and enter the punctum of emotions. In 2016 she performed L'imbandita at Oratorio San Filippo Neri in Bologna, followed by the solo show Motivi ossei. She sees clay as neurocompatible, where mind and hand communicate directly. Her 2002 performance La di piano featured glazed ceramic crown and clogs, creating a hybrid identity. In 2009 she returned to clay with La deriva è il nodo della mia gola at the 53rd Venice Biennale's Italian Pavilion, presenting primitive grotesque forms. Her site-specific works include Voliare (2007, Fattoria di Celle, Collezione Gori) and Germogli Ossei (2018, Palazzo Bentivoglio). She rejects the term 'progettazione' in favor of 'sentire,' yet has collaborated with Furla on design projects. The interview is part of Artribune's series 'Gli artisti e la ceramica' by Irene Biolchini.