Elisa Sighicelli: Vitroepifanie – A Poetic Reimagining of Glass and Light

At Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Elisa Sighicelli reinterprets antique Venetian glass through photography, light, and blur—creating surreal visions that transform memory and material. A poetic intersection of tradition and innovation.

A Material Memory Within The Wave of Sustainable Design

In the quiet, intimate spaces of Museo Poldi Pezzoli, a collection of antique Venetian glass from the 15th to 19th centuries takes on new life through the lens of contemporary artist Elisa Sighicelli. Her exhibition Vitroepifanie (Vitroepiphanies) invites us into a dimension where memory, matter, and imagination intertwine—an experience that resonates deeply within the philosophy of The Wave of Sustainable Design.

Sighicelli, long fascinated by the biomorphic forms and fluid properties of glass, engages not in redesign but in re-seeing. Using photography, blur, light, and shadow, she transforms these historic glass pieces into dreamlike apparitions—epiphanies of transparency and ambiguity that shift with every glance.

Reframing the Past Through Contemporary Eyes

What makes this work so compelling is how it breathes new relevance into ancient craft. Sighicelli doesn’t replicate or critique; she reinterprets, creating a visual dialogue between the past and the present. The resulting images are not static portraits of objects but living reflections, fluid and ephemeral—fantastic architectures emerging from darkness.

In this sense, her approach echoes the sustainable design philosophy of reusing, reframing, and reconnecting. These aren’t just photographs of artifacts; they are acts of translation. Sighicelli reawakens our perception of what we thought we knew, turning glass into a metaphor for transformation, fragility, and imagination.

Designing with Light and Intention

Her “vitroepiphanies” resist the clean certainty of digital imagery. Instead, they dwell in imperfection, nuance, and tactility—offering a gentle resistance to an overly polished, hyperreal world. The use of blur and shadow introduces an intentional ambiguity, encouraging viewers to slow down, observe, and feel rather than consume.

It’s a reminder that design can be an act of subtle disruption—a way of nudging us out of visual habits and into deeper sensory awareness. This kind of design doesn’t shout; it whispers. It’s the art of perception as a tool for sustainability.

A Soft Force Within The Wave

If Mario Ceroli’s monumental wood sculptures express sustainability through structure and ancestral strength, Elisa Sighicelli brings softness to the conversation—her materials are light and silence, her forms fleeting. Together, these artists offer a complete view of The Wave of Sustainable Design: not as a trend or aesthetic, but as a continuum of rediscovery, wonder, and intention.

In Vitroepifanie, we find sustainability not in scale but in subtlety—a call to honor the invisible forces that shape how we see and feel. In doing so, Sighicelli reminds us that transformation can begin with a shift in perception.

Exhibition Details:

ELISA SIGHICELLI – VITROEPIFANIE

Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

Until March 23, 2025

For those navigating the ever-evolving landscape of material, space, and sustainability, this exhibition is a luminous thread in the growing fabric of conscious design.