I have always admired the work of Italian designer, painter and sculptor Piero Fornasetti. His work is identified by his distinctive black and white engraving style. He became obsessed with the opera soprano, Lina Cavalieri when he discovered her face in a 19th-century magazine and created hundreds of objects and products featuring her likeness.
“What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.” The “Tema e Variazioni” (theme and variation) plate series based on Cavalieri’s face numbered more than 350. This face and his signature style has become a powerful international brand in itself without ever intending to be one.
I have a small wall of his plates that always inspire me.