IN CONVERSATION WITH ELENA SALMISTRARO

The multifaceted, award winning creative whose design journey has been shaped by her perspicacious approach and expressive language

- SALONI REGE

Artist, product designer and illustrator Elena Salmistraro’s designs combine wonder and whimsy. Creativity, function and emotions coalesce together in her repertoire in an oxymoron fashion, which she says, “is a very delicate job”. The Milan based creative adds, “There is no universal formula, we can write ergonomic treatises and classify infinite joints but we’ll never be able to define rules to interpret emotions.”

So, how does she do it? “I try to use empathy as a tool. Emotions are the best way to judge the arts, which is why great artworks never leave you feeling indifferent. For objects, the functionality component is important, even if it usually tends to depreciate.”

This has been a constant for Salmistraro, who graduated from Milan’s Polytechnic University in 2008 and established her studio with architect Angelo Stoli the next year. Her lucrative career has led to several eloquent and poetic creations, owing to the passion she’s had for design from a young age. “As a child, I used to create colourful drawings, it was my favourite activity. My parents encouraged this inclination and my grandfather would take me to museums and we’d try to comprehend iconic artworks together. So, for me, art has always been synonymous with happiness,” she recollects.

Over the years, it’s clear that her passion evolved. “It has been an integrated process to study art, then fashion and finally design. A consequence of research and study that now allows me to express myself in the world of visual arts,” she adds.