GIOVANNA  MAZZELLA  

Giovanna Mazzella is a Tasmanian based, Sydney born artist who has called Tasmania home since 2012.

Giovanna creates her unique bas relief casts at Wild Hive Studio, a light-filled art studio she built two years ago in the countryside of the Huon Valley, south of Hobart. The studio is an eco-built space created with sustainability at its core, with its high pitch ceiling, exposed beams and external cladding in natural edge macrocarpa timber grown and milled from a neighbouring property and internal earth walls using locally sourced clay, oat straw, cow manure and beeswax. The studio is surrounded by a number of Giovanna's bee hives and is set amongst an ever expanding cottage garden, with rolling hills in the distance and the nearby Huon River which flows into an extensive coastline of beaches and bays. 
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'I’ve always felt most at home in nature. As a child, I would spend hours outdoors exploring and observing. I collected shells, bird nests and unusual seed pods and my bedroom usually had jars of assorted beetles and caterpillars at different stages of development.' 
 
That childhood fascination eventually led Giovanna to macro photography, a career in horticulture, followed by landscape painting, and ultimately to her current practice of creating bas-relief casts which capture the subtle textures and ephemeral forms found in nature. She forages materials from gardens, forests, roadsides, the surrounding countryside, and nearby rivers and beaches. 
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The four distinct Tasmanian seasons offer endless inspiration for Giovanna, and her day to day creative practice is determined by what is currently in bloom, in leaf or partially or fully formed.

'I have learnt that in the space of one day a plant can change dramatically - a few years ago, I planned on casting a magnificent branch of cherry blossoms growing in the garden. The following day I went to the tree and found that all the petals had fallen overnight. I was so disappointed and had to wait another year to have the chance to cast those cherry blossoms again! It was a wonderful lesson for me on the ephemeral nature of our natural world and helped me develop a keen eye on noticing the subtle cues that signal changes in my environment'
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Giovanna's process is slow, focused and intentional. She begins by collecting her plant materials and keeping them well hydrated. She then prepares large, smooth clay beds on top of her 3m long work bench, carefully composing and arranging the plant materials before pressing and rolling them them into the clay. She then removes all the plant material from the clay to reveal their finely detailed impressions. Next she forms a temporary framework around each piece and pours in sculptural plaster, allowing it to set before releasing the frame, removing the clay from the plaster and allowing the piece to fully dry for 1-2 weeks. Each piece is then meticulously cleaned, sanded and finished with either metal leaf gilding or her own blend of charcoal infused beeswax. The work requires deep focus — hours can pass unnoticed in the quiet rhythm of planning and making.
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'I create to feel connected — to the land, to the seasons, and to myself and is a way of honouring the beauty that often goes unnoticed. My hope, is that my work invites others to feel that same sense of calm and connection to nature... to pause, breathe, and notice the beauty of the details that surrounds us.'
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Each piece is both a study of texture and a moment of mindfulness — an offering of the fleeting beauty of nature made tangible, and a quiet reminder of our place within the natural world.