Material beyond the Surface

This year’s Salone clearly confirmed a direction that was already emerging: materiality has returned to the center of the project.

Stone, marble, wood, ceramics, glass, textiles.Living, layered surfaces, designed to be shaped by light even before being observed.

It’s a theme I feel deeply connected to in my own research.

For years, I have worked with material as an autonomous presence, creating surfaces that hold light, stratification, and time.

In this context, material-based art does not enter as an additional element, but as a natural extension of the interior language.

The material of the artwork continues that of the space, enhancing it and making it more perceptual and sensory.

It is precisely through the interaction with light — whether grazing or diffused — that these surfaces become active and reveal their presence.

Contemporary and historic: an increasingly natural balance

Another interesting aspect of Fuorisalone 2026 was the exceptional opening of several historic palazzos.

Architecturally significant spaces where contemporary furniture and current art pieces engage in a natural dialogue.

In these environments, it is clear how material — ancient, stratified — continues to exist in the present.

A relationship between different eras that, as an Italian artist, I feel deeply connected to.

A way of inhabiting heritage that keeps it alive and relevant..

Artemest: integration between eras, material, and contemporary vision

Among the most visited examples of this dialogue between eras was the Apartment by Artemest in Palazzo Donizetti.

A project that precisely integrates languages, historical periods, and materials.

In the L’Alcova bedroom, designed by Saudi architect Urjowan Alsharif, my artwork from the Ancient Echoes serieswas featured: a contemporary reinterpretation of a classical reference, developed through material.

The work on the surface is not decorative, but developed to evoke memory — a trace of something that belongs to a broader sense of time.

The placement within the space was carefully measured, designed to engage with the intensity of the environment without disrupting its balance.

Discover Mara Fabbro on Artemest

The collaboration between Mara Fabbro and Artemest has been consolidated over time.

Click here to view her works on Artemest