Allegra Hicks

The collection of carpets in the exhibition reveals how the strong sign of contemporary design can be born from the meticulous observation of elements of the natural world and their relationship with the solid materiality of the Earth, the elusive flicker of Fire - always a symbol of the incessant transformation of all things, the mysterious lightness of Air and the tireless movement of Water.
The starting point is always the watercolour drawing. While the brush on the paper traces the design, the colour seems to almost choose a path, creating an organic flow from which the motifs of the carpets will be born. The carpets are subsequently made using three techniques: flat weaving, known as 'kilim', made in Anatolia from hand-spun wool and dyed with vegetable dyes; curvilinear embroidery, known as 'chain stitch'; and finally, hand-knotted carpets in the looms of Rajasthan.  

For each design, the right technique is chosen to best represent the suggestion of a nature in perpetual movement, never the same, a source of continuous discoveries. The exhibition is divided into various rooms, each of which refers to one of the elements. The fil rouge that runs through the exhibition is, of course, Allegra Hicks' creative vocabulary, the skilful use of a design and colour palette in which each colour has its own defined and refined beauty; and in this collection it is evident how the extraordinary balance of design and colour within each carpet creates a firm harmony with all the others, retracing exactly what happens in nature, in the incessant dialogue of the four original elements with each other.