Today’s guest on our blog is Andrea Milia, the Cagliari-born ‘stone weaver’ who has made his art the focus of his work.
But first of all, we would like to introduce ourselves: we are a real estate agency specialising in buying and selling property along the coastal strip of southern Sardinia. Our aim has always been to enhance the different types of living spaces, giving them a unique imprint. For this reason, we have launched an initiative that aims to enhance these spaces through the works of local craftsmen, artisans, ceramists, artists and entrepreneurs in order to also highlight the rich artistic, cultural and real estate heritage of our region.
From painting to granite: the years of experimentation
Andrea Milia’s artistic career developed after an intense activity of experimentation, first through the language of painting and later through the medium of stone engraving, today the focus of his work. The unifying element in his creations is polished black granite, the solid base on which his creative concepts/works are based and from which he himself founds his identifying trademark ‘Neroassoluto’.
It is precisely the ‘black canvas’ that is the base on which Andrea Milia lays his hands, while an interweaving of lines dominates them. Decisive, well thought-out, sometimes the result of randomness, the same that shows the artist new horizons to embark upon in the creation of the work of art itself.
Weaving on stone’: the artistic research of Andrea Milia
He himself defines his artistic research as ‘weaving on stone’. This expression reflects his ability to transfer the principles of weaving onto granite, a hard and impenetrable material that can only be scratched by an act of force. This transposition, (a form of abstraction), extracts the concept of warp and weft work from its original textile nature to make it universal, demonstrating that the process of weaving can be applied more broadly and figuratively. Weaving, in this context, becomes synonymous with creation from a single conceptual thread
Andrea Milia’s works in the living space.
The works in question interface with different types of living spaces, adapting naturally to the environment in which they are placed, be it a private home or a public place. The different sizes play a fundamental role in this, while the main element black granite, characterised by a linear cut, lends itself more to their application in modern and contemporary living spaces.
There are many works that the artist produces. Below is a list of the main ones:
Almost cubes:
represent a combination of geometry and expressive freedom. Their shape, that of the cube, offers a solid base, but their true nature emerges in their changeable arrangement. As the name suggests, they can be placed in variable positions. In this flexibility lies the power to engage individual taste and interpretation. The right vision of an ‘almost cube’ is in fact the one that each person perceives as his or her own.
Dominos:
is the smallest format. They are works made on polished stone tiles, hence their name intended to recall the well-known board game of dominoes. Placed on their slightly inclined feet, they are a representation of precision and creativity in a small, compact space.
Tapestries:
Intended to adorn the walls of public and private buildings, they are a tribute to traditional textile art, reinterpreted in a contemporary key. In them, millennial history and lines intertwine and merge in a mainly vertical format.
Other creations include the circular-shaped ‘Stone Shields‘, a reference to the shield as an object, used by ancient peoples such as, for example, the Vikings; the vertical-shaped ‘Yarns‘, with engravings that narrate the art of yarn weaving; and the ‘Circuits‘, whose line shape is inspired by neural networks or other connectivity systems existing in nature. A mix of tradition and innovation skilfully reworked, this is what all Andrea Milia’s creations are made of.