Cristina Balbiano d’Aramengo Her passion for the world of graphics, photography, printing, art prints, design (... and dark chocolate) is the spur for her works and helps her to interpret traditional or experimental paper techniques, keeping alive an antique art that the artist renews with intellect and creativity.
Nico Zardo
Everything expresses a symbolic meaning. Like an aura that each individual seizes and interprets through the relationship we establish with the materials and objects or people we meet. For Cristina Balbiano d’Aramengo, paper and books not only “exude a special light” but they also constitute the instrument through which she expresses a lightweight creativity, fostered in the course of time, and a deep affection that materializes in her activity and in her works.
In recent years, the idea of the book has been severely put to the test by the rapid spread of digital instruments, but the problematic obsolescence of software, that after just a few years loses its aptitude for memory because surpassed by other software, sheds new light on the importance of the paper document. And Cristina Balbiano has made a profession of restoring and preserving papers and books, interpreting this activity with respect for the quality and significance of the documents that require her care, using non invasive techniques and materials.
SHE GRADUATED FROM THE “ACCADEMIA DI BELLE ARTI DI BRERA”, Milan, and trained as bookbinder and restorer of documents and books in Aosta, Rome and Ascona (Switzerland). In 1993 she opened a workshop in Milan and in 2005, with some friends, founded “Associazione Professione Libro”, with the scope of promoting the Art of Books through courses, seminars and the organization of exhibitions and events.
Her collaboration in Italy and abroad with artists, graphic artists, calligraphers, photographers and other professional figures in the field have enriched the quality of her production that, besides books, entails the design and manufacture of containers, protective cases and boxes for books, albums and portfolios, containers and folders for prints, but also artistic creations for exhibitions and exhibits.
Competence, knowledge and expertise must be transmitted to others. And so for Cristina teaching constitutes an important activity and she uses this aspect as a time for assessment, in depth examination and comparison for her wonderful paper art. *
For information:
www.cristinabalbianodaramengo.net
www.professionelibro.it
www.outofbinding.com/tp_binders/cristina.htm