A journey through time has brought to light ancient secrets. To unearth them, I have chosen to pause and listen to the whispering wind, collecting buried memories, weaving tales that might nourish and prepare the ground.
It was a deliberate act: to create the necessary space for these secrets to come to light.
I wanted to accompany those who feel a deep connection to their past, those who looking for their roots, who recognize a subtle call in the traces of time. I have crossed the thresholds of the invisible, following scattered clues, remote signs still alive in each of us. Now that time has come.
The secret that comes to light carries the name of my new jewelry collection:
Segni. Re-emerging from the Grotta dei Cervi (Deer Cave).
This collection is the result of a visionary and symbolic descent into the depths of earth and time. It all begins in a place shrouded in mystery, located along the Salento coastline, both real and mythical: the Grotta dei Cervi (Deer Cave) in Porto Badisco.
There, in the darkness of a cave that remained silent for millennia, archaic signs on the walls speak a language yet to be deciphered: pictograms painted in the Neolithic era, perhaps ritualistic, perhaps narrative, certainly imbued with an ancestral energy that time has never erased. These signs, traces of primordial humanity, have given shape to my new line of jewelry.
Segni draws its inspiration from a profound dualism that unfolds in the descent into shadow and the return to the surface. The flow guiding the essence of each jewelry piece is continuous and dual between past and present, memory and vision, darkness and light.
Every time I create a piece of jewelry, I take pride in telling a story that goes beyond the shapes and materials I use: my jewelry is not meant to merely adorn, but to tell and share unique stories. So once again, each piece in the SEGNI collection stems from a Neolithic pictogram actually present and alive in the cave in Porto Badisco. Every trace, every relief, every geometric shape resurfaces from stone and time to become a contemporary symbol that comes to life again on the skin.
Once the wait was over, the mystery was revealed on June 21st, the day of the summer solstice: the collection was officially presented in a place equally steeped in history and beauty, the Triangular Hall of the Aragonese Castle in Otranto.
A special event where the audience was taken on a journey into the world of Segni, organized under the patronage of the Municipality of Otranto and thanks to the collaboration of the UNESCO Club of Otranto and Marina Piconese, president of the Club and host of the evening.
It's difficult to put into words exactly what the atmosphere was like: intimate, vibrant, at times suspended.
An attentive audience welcomed the stories, screenings, and voices of the guests who, together with me, helped shape this journey. Starting with Ninì Ciccarese, a journalist, speleo-archeologist, custodian for over 25 years and deep connoisseur of the Grotta dei Cervi, who passionately shared all the stories of that ancestral and, in some ways, still very mysterious place. Alongside him, many shared stories, outdoor readings, sound and visual performances, such as the video by director Roberto Leone and the shots by photographer Marco Perulli, which helped create a truly magical and immersive atmosphere.
The energy I felt as the pieces of the collection were unveiled is difficult to explain. But it was all there, like an invisible thread between past and present, darkness and light, descent and re-surfacing in an encounter that connected everyone.
To all those who were there, thank you very much.
To those who couldn't attend: I invite you to visit me in the workshop, follow me on social media and visit my website to discover what happened, but above all, I invite you to immerse yourself in the profound universe of SEGNI.
Even without being able to visit the Grotta dei Cervi, a place currently closed to the public, we can still recognize its symbols within ourselves.
A big thank you to all those who made this possible, and a special thank you to my land, Salento, which never ceases to inspire me with its infinite beauty.
