Simona Schiavone

Artworks

Earth
Ink on calfskin vellum
60 x 60 cm

Monad Generating the Six
Shell brass on indigo paper
85 x 45 cm

Monad Generating the Four
Shell gold on indigo paper
85 x 45 cm

Artist Statement

The universe, which is the great simulacrum, the great image and sole-begotten nature, is also all that it can be, through the very species and principle members, and by containing the totality of matter, to which nothing is added, nothing taken away, on complete and unified form.”¹

My work has been inspired by the concept of the Monad, (from Ancient Greek μονάς (monas) ‘unity’, and μόνος (monos) ‘alone’) the original substance generating all the visible world.

The symbol of the Monad is a circle with a central point.

As the Monad is the first constituent of the universe, the circle is the starting point of every geometric possibility.
The circle is the perfect shape, balanced, its barycentre is the radial centre of the figure, and the perimeter is equidistant from the centre. It could proportionally and limitlessly be expanded and contracted. It could be revolved around, and it will remain the same, with its own characteristics.

My second year project starts from a depiction of the Monad, (generating the elements of the Universe) and the circle (generating every possible geometric shape)

As the Monad generates all the classical elements (air, water, fire, earth and Aether, the quintessence Aristotelian), the circle generates all the two-dimensional geometric shapes, and the sphere generates all the solids, the three-dimensional shapes. This analogy, from the concept of Pythagorean philosophy and the visual geometrical representation (influenced by Kepler) has fascinated me deeply for a long time.

The project includes paintings on vellum and geometrical drawings.

The use of mixed media (inks, gouache, gold shell) painted on goatskin has allowed me to enhance the property of translucency and how the light could be refracted by these materials.

¹G. Bruno “Cause, Principle and Unity” translated by R.J. Blackwell, 2003, London, Cambridge University
Press pp.64

Biography

Simona Bosco Schiavone graduated with an M.Sc. in Architecture from the Polytechnic of Turin (Italy). After passing the EU Certificate Exam, she worked as an architect in Italy.

In 2014, she attended the Part 3 RIBA at the Bartlett School, University College, London, and subsequently, she was able to join the RIBA Chartered and the ARB in the UK.

She worked as an architect in London, specialising in refurbishing historic residences.

Her passion for interior decoration, traditional crafts, Plato, and neo-Platonists such as Giordano Bruno led her to the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, now the King’s Foundation School. She focused her study and practice on geometry as a balanced representation of reality, using a wide range of materials.

Contact

Instagram @simonae_bosco
Email sbs.cgi.architecture@gmail.com