ART FLOWER MAKER Marcella Trimarchi, the Florist at the Service of Art

Marcella Trimarchi, the florist at the service of art...

Immerse in brass and aluminum flower motifs, Marcella Trimarchi shows she is an inexhaustible source of ideas.

Her beginning in haute couture with Gianni Versace lasted until 1997 when Tom Ford included her in his team. Then, Valentino & Moncler Gamme and Gucci came into the picture. In 2012 she moved to New York and she worked for the Calvin Klein Collection as the Creative Product Development Vice President.

Nevertheless, the Sicilian artist believes in a flexible lifestyle, like those of plants. That’s why in 2018 she took a turn in her trip and was reborn as The Art Flower Maker, adopting handmade Italian metallurgy as a way to give fresh floral arrangements a hardwearing shape.

As a result, Trimarchi cultivates an ethereal and elegant style with which she aspires to awake emotions through curves, lines, spirals, and colors. Despite her years working as an artist, this multidisciplinary designer has not lost her inspiration. Now she finds it set in the beauty of stems and their unpredictable turns. In the harmony and smoothness of flora and metal.

What made you decide to start The Art Flower Maker?I was fascinated about the fresh arrangements that I was making and I really wanted to make them lasting ,I loved the idea of having a piece of art with the resemblance of the fresh arrangements, this is how everything started

You came back to Italy to reconnect with your craft ¿What places have you visited?

I have places that

I visit constantly for no specific reason, Italy is full of inspiring places! I enjoy visiting factories and artisans, learning their process and sharing experiences is the best lesson for me. They love to share their knowledge and their advises and point of view are always sharp and forward.

You’ve met Lilygrass decorative leaves at the Flower District in New York, are they still the basis of your designs? They are the inspiration of my work, so, yes they definitely work!

¿How long does it take you to make each support? The work is articulated in four phases : the making of the base and flower with lost wax technique and the laser cut leaves are the first part, second part I receive the pieces and I handcraft the leaves and work on the arrangement, third part the metal finishing, fourth part I arrange and fix the component all together. I would say that it takes almost two months.

¿What materials do you use? I have been using Brass and Aluminum. Brass mainly for metallic finishing like bronze patina and gold plating, Aluminium for the coloured pieces

¿Do you recommend any special kind of flowers for each design? For the Unique Pieces I redesigned a Mum , it adds a sharp contrast, with its multitude of spikes petals, to the leaves that are very sinuous.

I like to work on contrasts in order to keep the final result always surprising and balanced, not too round and sweet but definitely with an edge, sometime, even if not a vase I put a fresh flower and the contrast is quite interesting.

¿Do you have intention to experiment with harder and more regular structures? I will always keep softer shapes, I get inspiration from nature, it’s all about harmony and softness.

But you recognize that something that you have learned at this profession is “the endless evolution of ideas”. What new ideas are waiting? Do you intend to keep making custom pieces? Every day I have new ideas and I have to force myself to take the time and really dig on a current project until I am sure that all possibilities have been explored and developed . I am already working on a new project, but I am not sure when it will be ready, I don’t want to rush anything.

How are you decorating your own studio? I like to have corners where I keep my inspirations, corners with books, pictures of the fresh arrangements I took, I like to be surrounded by things that inspire me, but I am also obsessed with clean empty spaces, so I always keep everything organized and neat.