The Artist
Poetics: Inhabiting Imperfect Beauty
Manuela Metra’s artistic research is rooted in a poetic and mindful awareness of everyday temporality, recognizing art as a space for stillness, attentive presence, and connection with the essence of being. Her practice conceives the artwork as a living presence capable of inhabiting both space and the present moment, fostering contemplation and meaningful relationships with those who encounter it.
Her work unfolds through three essential materials: the pigment of painting, the raw earth of sculpture, and the light of fine art photography. Rather than existing as separate disciplines, these mediums are understood as different modes of listening, all directed toward the same inquiry: the relationship between matter, light, and time. Every gesture in the studio becomes a process of attunement with the material—the earth receiving the pressure of the hands, pigment slowly building upon the surface, the image emerging through the subtlety of light. The resulting surfaces become sensory fields that preserve the physical memory of gesture and transformation.
A central reference within Manuela Metra’s practice is the aesthetic philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, understood not as a formal style but as an attitude toward the transience of all things. Fragility, asymmetry, and the traces left by time become intrinsic elements of the work, allowing matter to reveal its own history and continuous becoming.
Within this perspective, the artwork moves beyond the notion of a static object to become a threshold—a place of encounter between form and silence, the visible and the invisible. Painting, sculpture, and photography become traces of presence, inviting the gaze to linger and the body to rediscover a slower, more conscious rhythm. Art emerges as an inhabited experience, capable of creating a profound relationship between the individual, matter, and space.
THE TIME OF ESSENCE: Practices, Works, and Projects
Painting: Surfaces as Sensory FieldsBefore establishing itself as an image, color manifests in its raw condition as pigment, earth, and mineral powder. On canvas or paper, through the application of oil and acrylic, Manuela Metra’s painting practice originates within the space of absolute listening that precedes the mark. The encounter with color as a sensory field develops through a process of material layering and attunement to the breath. In the tension between pigment, form, and the void, the surface becomes a testament and resonance of soulful atmospheres. Informal painting allows the artist to operate prior to recognizable form and conceptual filtering, translating internal temperatures into stable chromatic traces. Her paintings have been exhibited in European museums and galleries and are held in private collections, recently expanding into relational practices through live action painting cycles.
Clay Sculpture: Forms of Impermanence
Inspired by the asymmetric rigor and raw elegance of Shibui aesthetics, Manuela Metra’s sculptures and everyday forms embrace time through matter, creating a dialogue with space and natural light. The artist systematically directs every phase of the thermal and geological process: from the selection of raw clays and extracted pigments to the chemical composition of glazes, wheel-throwing, and multiple firings. Each step is an integral part of the artwork’s historical memory. Through the serial refinement of geometric forms, her production spans from plastic sculpture to the conceptual synthesis of unique functional vessels—such as the Shoji cup or the Ensho bowl—designed to introduce aesthetic experience into the ordinary rhythm of life. Her sculptural works are included in public and private collections across Europe and the United States.
Fine Art Photography: The Temporal Echo
In opposition to the saturation and smoothness of contemporary digital streams, Manuela Metra’s photography establishes itself as a phenomenological inquiry into shadow, asymmetry, and the simplicity of the visual fragment. Through the study of diffused natural light and the adoption of off-center compositions, the captures reveal the structure and intimate essence of the subjects. The use of a controlled chromatic palette, reduced depth of field, and a focus on textures and raw materials marked by time define her stylistic syntax. The artist’s photographic works, focused on the poetics of transience, have been exhibited in Italy and are documented within the international PhotoVogue portfolio.
Threshold of Contemplation
Embrace the Beauty of Imperfection
Whether you are a collector, an admirer of Wabi Sabi aesthetics, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of art and handmade creations, Atelier Manuela Metra invites you to explore the collection. Each piece embodies the artist’s dedication and her deep understanding of the Wabi Sabi philosophy. Perfectly Imperfect.
CHRONOLOGICAL AND ACADEMIC TRAJECTORY
Manuela Metra’s professional and visual research trajectory formally began in 2005, establishing itself from the outset as a multidisciplinary inquiry focused on the structural and conceptual properties of raw materials. Her initial core studies—conducted at the Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) and further developed under the guidance of Angelo Gorlini, Marilena Belloni, and Gabriella Sacchi—marked a systematic approach to watercolor, high-temperature plastic modeling, and early informal experimentation, aligning with her theoretical focus on Wabi Sabi philosophy and the spiritual dimension of art-making.
Over the subsequent seven years, the artist expanded and formalized her executive discipline, advancing her study of pictorial and plastic techniques at internationally recognized institutions, including the Accademia di Belle Arti di San Luca, the La Meridiana International School of Ceramics—where she worked alongside masters such as John Colbeck and Fritz Marburg—and the European Cinabro School of Anthroposophical Art Therapy. During this phase, she consolidated a rigorous anthroposophical methodology applied to image and substance analysis, simultaneously rooted in Western Abstract Informalism and the structural purity of the Anglo-Japanese pottery tradition.
THE ROOTS OF THE PRESENT: The Ima no… Archive (2000 — 2026)
The backbone of Manuela Metra’s multidisciplinary research is identified within the ongoing body of work titled Ima no… (Translated from Japanese as: “The present of…”). This archive does not operate as a mere chronological inventory; instead, it constitutes the operational core of the artist’s method. Each year represents an act of subtraction and deep listening anchored in the truth of matter. Through the seriality of the gesture, time ceases to be a straight line and becomes a flow where memory and becoming converge in the immediate moment of creation, witnessing a twenty-year journey aimed at defusing the illusion of the ego to make room for the fertile void.
Roots
2000: Ima no Umi (今の海) – The Sea of the Present
2001: Ima no Hana (今の花) – The Flower of the Present
2002: Ima no Tsuki (今の月) – The Moon of the Present
2003: Ima no Shizukesa (今の静けさ) – The Quiet of the Present
2004: Ima no Michi (今の道) – The Path of the Present
2005: Ima no Suna (今の砂) – The Sand of the Present
2006: Ima no Fūkei (今の風景) – The Landscape of the Present
Colour as a spiritual being, Earth as the World’s skin
2007: Ima no Kanashimi (今の悲しみ) – The Sadness of the Present
2008: Ima no Yūki (今の勇気) – The Courage of the Present
2009: Ima no Hikari (今の光) – The Light of the Present
2010: Ima no Kokoro (今の心) – The Heart of the Present
2011: Ima no Kumo (今の雲) – The Clouds of the Present
2012: Ima no Hana (今の花) – The Flower of the Present
Fire and Completion
2013: Ima no Kaze (今の風) – The Wind of the Present
2014: Ima no Toki (今の時) – The Time of the Present
2015: Ima no Koe (今の声) – The Voice of the Present
2016: Ima no Kibō (今の希望) – The Hope of the Present
2017: Ima no Uta (今の歌) – The Song of the Present
2018: Ima no Sora (今の空) – The Sky of the Present
2019: Ima no Michi (今の道) – The Path of the Present
The Stillness of the Mountain
2020: Ima no Shizukesa (今の静けさ) – The Peace of the Present
2021: Ima no Umi (今の海) – The Sea of the Present
2022: Ima no Jikan (今の時間) – The Moment of the Present
2023: Ima no Yume (今の夢) – The Dream of the Present
2024: Ima no Ne (今の根) – The Roots of the Present
2025: Ima no Yo no Bi (今の用の美) – The Beauty of Presence in Everyday Objects
2026: Ima no Ma (今の間) – The Space of the Present, Where I Let Things Flow
2026: Ima no Oto (The sound of Present): Cycle of live performative and pictorial actions at the Conservatorio di Milano Giuseppe Verdi.
Selected Press
“Her art emerges from the depths of the soul and evolves in the present through works of refined poetic expression. Thus, in her paintings, executed with a rare and distinctly contemporary mastery of colour, one discovers — within the interplay of light and shadow — visual echoes of poetry, woven into the surface with remarkable artistic sensitivity”.
Sandro Sabatini, in Eventi culturali, settembre 2008
“Manuela Metra offers ceramics that stimulate not only the visual dimension but also the physical. Her purity of forms and compositions and the executive simplicity that characterizes the works of Manuela, show how it is possible to get rid of everything that is unnecessary and unimportant. When things clouds a clear view of the world, look to Manuela’s art to provide a full understanding of living.”
Paolo Levi, Monreale. Una raccolta d’arte contemporanea italiana, 2010
“To understand the pictorial conception of Manuela Metra, one must approach the themes of wabi sabi. Within this realm, a search for simplicity and purity is reflected not only in her ceramic production, but which also manifests itself in the rest of her work. This starts with the large sheets, apparently dedicated only to studies and drafts but which actually constitute independent magnificence. You can see the warm air of summer expressed by joyful and sunny colors, but they already contain the prelude to the autumn, with its darker colors obtained from the mixture of lighter tones.” “In Manuela Metra’s work, the stoneware takes on a spherical shape with the insertion of brightly colored paints, that are distributed on the surface like a lava flow. When you look closer, it is the same shape that comes from the earth, i.e. the spherical one, which is inclined in various dimensions. It is an absolute example of volumetric essentiality, a perfect symbol of unity, of Platonic origin, where the sphere would be similar to the celestial spheres. The same material is used by the sculptress, for the realization of cups, which in the jagged edges or in the small holes made in stoneware, can be assimilated to a living and pulsating material, as well as to small satellites, which are placed in direct relationship with the spheres. Strongly intuitive in the reasons and inspirations of the artist, are the sculptural works of great interpreters of art, not only Italian, such as the brothers Pomodoro and Lucio Fontana, but also Henry Moore, a genius in the common use of shapes and materials.”
Francesca Teresa Giffone, Manuela Metra, in Eikon, No. 10, settembre-ottobre 2010
“Manuela Metra Artist and Alchemist finds in ceramics a way to give usability to her products which thus become not only works of art but tools and objects to be used in everyday life. In her unique pieces she does not simply seek functional perfection but always also the soul of the object, according to the asian ceramic tradition, firing its ceramics at 1260 degrees, thanks to very specific kilns.”
Settimio Benedusi, Cercando l’anima delle cose, Corriere della Sera, 20 agosto 2014
“Entering the furnace you can discover the Atelier of Manuela Metra, a painter but above all a ceramic artist. Her wabi sabi artifacts are works that ask to be admired for the beauty of their shapes and colors, where imperfection becomes pure aesthetics. It could only be like this where masters such as Filarete, Ciminaghi, Giò Ponti have passed.”
Valentina Ceriani, Un gigante con i pedi d’argilla, in Arbiter Magazine, No. 167/XXIII, febbraio 2017
“After having shown her creations in exhibitions staged in Italy and abroad, now Manuela prefers to present them in her studio, convinced that the purpose of art is direct dialogue between the artist and the final observer of her work. The studio houses her canvases marked by an informal-abstract stylistic code developed in the three-dimensionality of painting and artistic ceramics, like the Moon Jar vases, in her favorite shape of a sphere, an expression of the relationship between earth and sky. Her functional works-bowls, cups with ribbon or C-shaped handles, plates, and trays-are designed to stimulate that intimacy that develops between the everyday object and those who use it, becoming part of their experience, creating affection, welcoming memories of moments, gestures, and people. All born in the spirit of the Japanese Wabi Sabi aesthetic, a philosophy she has embraced in recent years because it celebrates irregularity, imperfection, time that flows and transforms, impermanence. In contrast to Western thought tied to the perfection of symmetry, codified in the Renaissance”.
Laura Maggi, Manuela Metra. Art, in Truly Italian Roots, 2022