Manuela Metra

CELADON WABI SABI ACADEMY

Wabi Sabi studio corner with ceramics and paintings, workshop space Milan, Manuela Metra
The workshop space at Wabi Sabi Studio.

CELADON WABI SABI ACADEMY
Artistic Research, Material Practice and Transmission

Celadon – Wabi Sabi Academy is an artistic research environment founded by Manuela Metra, emerging from her ongoing investigation into clay, water, pigment, and the poetic dimension of imperfection.

It is a place where artistic practice, material awareness, and contemplative processes meet.

The Wabi Sabi Academy operates as a center for higher education in plastic and pictorial arts, and contemporary aesthetic research, directed by visual artist Manuela Metra, graduated from the San Luca Fine Arts Academy. Far removed from commercial ceramics formats or recreational entertainment, the pathways of the Way of Earth and the Way of Water develop through limited-enrollment studio sessions and pure material investigation modules, where technical rigor and the visceral strength of the artistic gesture stand far beyond any amateur or recreational dynamics.

 

The Wabi Sabi Academy is conceived for those who wish to go beyond the transient nature of a workshop and embark on a structured training path in clay sculpture, anthroposophical formal analysis, and mindful creation. The pedagogical project stands as the organic transmission of Manuela Metra’s method: a progressive path combining studio discipline, individual mentorship, and philosophical inquiry, leading to a mature, mindful, and pre-conceptual relationship with matter and impermanence.

Distance itself from recreational or short-term formats, the Academy requires motivation, time commitment, and consistent practice. Structured paths—such as the Way of Earth and the Way of Water—teach participants how to be acted upon by the material. They integrate the study of mark and gesture with Shibuiaesthetics and the sacredness of the incomplete, serving individuals pursuing deep personal transformation as well as professionals intending to implement these devices within therapeutic, educational, or institutional care sectors.

LEVELS OF METHOD TRANSMISSION

The transmission of the method is organized across three integrated areas of intervention, focusing on academic research, relational practices, and ongoing studio training:

1. Academic Seminars: Making Art in the Atelier
Artistic learning is based on the radical integration between theoretical inquiry and the truth of execution. The seminars offer students and academic institutions the opportunity to immerse themselves in creative processes through interactive workshops, lectures, and practical studio sessions focused on knowing through art.
  • Research Fields: In-depth study of painting techniques and informal drawing; plastic modeling and clay sculpture; fine art photography and the poetics of shadow; history of artistic processes and art as a healing process.
  • Academic Integration: Modules designed to enrich university curricula or serve as accredited extracurricular specialization paths.
2. Relational Interventions and Collective Practices (Corporate & Team Connection)
Sessions guided by the artist where the manipulation of raw clay, the study of color as a spiritual entity, and silence are used as phenomenological mirrors to explore group dynamics, leadership, and cohesion.
  • Clay Team Building: Organic, structured paths devoid of commercial formats, tailored for corporations, startups, and complex organizations to foster alignment and rebuild internal relational ecology.
  • Transformative Retreat (Wabi Sabi Retreat): Exclusive and intensive field experiences—such as residential cycles in Tuscany—dedicated to subtraction, meditation, and deep personal growth through contact with natural elements.
3. Continuous Training and Individual Mentoring
Long-term training paths designed for those intending to develop an independent artistic language or integrate sculptural ceramics into their professional career.
  • Mindful Creation: Systematic and rigorous introductions to the silent dialogue with raw clay and the listening to color.
  • Wabi Sabi Mentoring: Individual sessions aimed at the direct application of the method to the most complex material: the individual’s own existence.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE METHOD: Authorship, Certification, and Presence

Every seminar, educational path, or corporate intervention within the Wabi Sabi Academy is not transmitted through conventional teaching dynamics. Instead, it is anchored in the integration of three inseparable dimensions that constitute the uniqueness of Manuela Metra’s method:
  • The Artist’s Research: Transmission stems from live studio experience and institutional performative actions (such as the cycle for the Conservatorio di Milano). It does not teach fixed academic rules, but rather knowing through art and the inquiry into the truth of matter.
  • The Art Therapist’s Clinical Rigor: Every anthroposophically oriented module is guided by an accredited professional with over ten years of field experience in frontier settings like pediatric oncology within hospitals. The practice is protected by official certifications (registered with Arte.a and FACn.135, in compliance with the UNI 11592 standard).
  • The Meditator’s Discipline: Rooted in the Mindfulness protocol (MBSR) and Eastern philosophy, the creative act is approached as self-discipline and an emptying of the ego. Silence and presence are the primary tools used to clear mental space and activate color as a true spiritual entity.
This triad ensures an organic, structured training path protected from superficial trends, addressing those who seek a path of deep awareness and executive rigor.
  • Framework: Available in person in Milan at the Atelier’s industrial space or through remote online sessions. Custom tailored proposals for corporations and academic institutions are valid for 6 months.
To request detailed information on academic programs, training cycle fees, or to book an introductory consultation, please complete the contact form below.

    MANUELA METRA

    Manuela Metra is a contemporary visual artist and Wabi-Sabi ceramic artist, graduated from the San Luca Academy of Fine Arts. For more than twenty-five years, she has developed an artistic practice that explores the visceral power of matter through contemporary sculpture, Zen aesthetics, and transformative processes. Her work is shaped using natural stoneware, wild clay, and pigments prepared by hand.

    She is the founder of Celadon – Wabi Sabi Academy, a space devoted to the study of ceramics, material experimentation, and the exploration of the relationship between earth, water, and form.