ISABELLA DUCROT

Isabella Ducrot is an artist and writer, whose career spans over four decades. In her nineties, she approaches art with an acute sense of immediacy, unburdened by the need to anticipate the future. For her, creation is no longer a preparation for what is to come but a full immersion in the present moment. This immediacy translates into works that feel both intuitive and profound—gestures of pure artistic presence, where the act of making is inseparable from the act of being.

The exhibition showcases Ducrot’s latest works, focusing on floral motifs. Rather than treating flowers as decorative elements, Ducrot distills their forms into distinct compositions, emphasising the physicality of her materials. She works with Japanese Gampi paper, a rare and highly prized fibre known for its translucent delicacy yet surprising resilience. This interplay between fragility and strength mirrors the themes of her collaged works, in which floral elements appear almost ethereal, but remain grounded in an enduring material presence. ‘My work is not delicate,’ Ducrot has remarked, underscoring the robustness of both her materials and her artistic vision. Her flowers are not fleeting embellishments but rather solid, elemental forms that embody a quiet permanence.

Throughout her life, Ducrot has undertaken extensive travels, amassing a remarkable collection of fabrics and papers, some of them historical, from Turkey, China and India, among other places. In her works in the exhibition, the artist incorporates ancient Indian stamps into her compositions, layering them onto Gampi paper to create a dialogue between personal mark-making and the historical traces embedded in these printed symbols. A wide variety of media, such as pencil, pastel, ink, and watercolour, are applied to the rare papers, weaving together a tapestry of cultural references that encompass philosophy, folklore, and textile traditions.

In 2024, a documentary titled Tenga duro signorina! Isabella Ducrot Unlimited, directed by Monica Stambrini, was released. The film offers an in-depth look at Ducrot’s life and work over a period of two years. The Madre Museum in Naples is set to present a retrospective of Ducrot’s work in 2026, curated by Adam Weinberg. Isabella Ducrot’s solo exhibition WEAVING IS HUMAN was recently on view at Museo delle Civiltà in Rome. In 2024 Ducrot had a comprehensive solo show at Le Consortium Museum in Dijon. She also created a monumental scenography for Dior’s spring 2024 haute couture show. Ducrot’s large-scale installation Omaggio a Mishima (Homage to Mishima) was part of Art Basel’s Unlimited sector in 2022.