Claudia Bonollo (Sophia Cromatica) | Winner of the Special Prize with PrimoPiano Cucine
Color interests me not merely as a cultural tool but, more importantly, as a catalyst for inner transformation. Chromatic worlds encapsulate material, spatial, emotional, and spiritual potential, evolving into authentic sanctuaries of the soul—metonymic paradigms bridging internal and external vision. “Total installations” thus become sensitive environments where color transcends its medium, transforming into an immersive experience.
Would you like to tell something about yourself and the start of your artistic career?
I am a multidisciplinary artist, an architect, and a researcher deeply passionate about experimentation. I have always combined my artistic journey with a quest to explore the creative act in all its possible dimensions—any field of creation capable of sparking my curiosity. In 2023, I realized a dream: the creation of an artistic alter ego, Sophia Cromatica (@sophiacromatica). Since taking this step, despite everyone’s advice, I have been exploring an entirely new realm of creative freedom.
Convinced of the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue, in 2002, I founded Atelier Meta-morphic in Madrid, a space for cultural promotion that has since evolved into Atelier Cromatico. Today, it is an internationally oriented platform for art, culture, and research and, above all, an experimental laboratory for a conscious use of color.
I founded and direct a pioneering studio in Spain specializing in eco and biophilic design, creating multisensory installations with color and organic elements. By activating new synergies, greenery becomes a driver of change. Today more than ever, it is crucial to develop sensitive architecture that integrates empathy and sensory dimensions. Beyond its positive influence on our health, it fosters a new way of thinking.
You have been selected as Winner for the Special Prize with PrimoPiano Cucine, with which you're creating a really interesting project. How was your idea born?
The project for PrimoPiano Cucine fills me with joy because we share values that are profoundly important to me: a commitment to high-quality work with meticulous attention to detail, an almost artisanal approach that aligns perfectly with the emerging post-craft and organic movements sweeping across Europe. It emphasizes the pursuit of well-being through attentiveness to perceptual and sensory phenomena, intelligent sustainability born of an ecological mindset, and, last but not least, the opportunity to offer personalized, tailor-made designs crafted specifically for each individual.
This form of empathy is deeply needed today—to assist and guide people in expressing their tastes within their homes, the most vital of living spaces. These are the same values that define my eco and biophilic design studio.
Our studio’s approach is sustainable not only because we work with organic elements but also because of our carefully defined business model, which treats nature and the artisans we collaborate with respectfully and sensitively. It is no coincidence that the first exhibition organized around our work, supported by the French Embassy and Dimad, was titled Organiques.
What is the aim of these artworks?
The project’s concept—a four-part organic bas-relief representing themes central to PrimoPiano Cucine, inspired by their Kitchen by You concept—is to create square, abstract, and diverse universes. These are designed for flexible interpretations and arrangements, adapting to the spatial possibilities without compromising the harmony of the whole. By changing the arrangement of the elements, the result remains sensory and stimulating.
When arranged within a larger square, the four quadrants reference the foundational patterns used to establish places, evoking the figures of an original space. They subtly allude to the synthesis of a fifth element without explicitly revealing it.
I will never tire of emphasizing that biophilic design is neither a recipe nor a set of rigid rules. Instead, it is a more sensitive and receptive way of thinking about and approaching a project. Whether it’s a plant-based painting, an organic sculpture, or a bespoke ephemeral installation, biophilic design fosters the creation of personalized spaces where people, guided by their senses, can experience well-being and awe in a broader, more inclusive dimension.
It’s not just about introducing nature into spaces but about paying attention to everything that aligns with the true etymology of the word biophilia, which means “love for life”. Biophilic projects stimulate creativity, enhance focus, performance, health, and well-being, while significantly reducing stress and anxiety. A well-executed biophilic design creates genuine landscapes for the soul and provides multifaceted benefits—not only for the added value it brings to spaces but, above all, for the positive effects it generates on people and their environments.
Your profile clearly shows that you are a multidisciplinary artist. Other than the project for PrimoPiano Cucine, what kind of artworks do you usally create?
I am deeply interested in cross-disciplinarity and dialogue between different fields. I enjoy studying and investigating. Perhaps, as a woman, I perceive art as a concave, receptive dimension—a propensity to listen.
Our imagination is unwell, and I strive to heal it using all the tools at my disposal: color, which I have always worked with, and imagination, which has nothing to do with fantasy. Imagination is an active, goal-oriented creation, a state of vigilant consciousness.
For this reason, I am drawn to emotions and our perceptual reactions—our very capacity to feel. I believe that a more sensitive and empathetic approach is essential in an era marked by profound sensory impoverishment, exacerbated by social media. Everything seems within reach, yet we have never felt so isolated.
After the pandemic, I threw myself back into the creative arena, actively participating in competitions and events. I was invited to and selected for numerous festivals. My studio is located in the city center, but my atelier, where I create my works, is a well-known space—not only for the creatives in the neighborhood but also for the public. During special occasions, we open our doors to the community, who often express gratitude for the beauty and meaning we bring to their neighborhood.
In recent years, I have presented Synaesthesia, a multisensory organic bas-relief; The Green Planets, custom transparent worlds; Blooming Cells, light boxes featuring flowering cells as a tribute to humanity; chromatic spaces for experiential exploration; various collections of “flying carpets” crafted from recycled natural elements and PET plastics transformed into flowers; and a new version of the Quantum Room, a multidisciplinary installation inspired by quantum physicist Amit Goswani.
Most recently, I began collaborating with Honevo-art, the creator of the Bionic Festival, along with dancers and choreographers, to initiate a new movement centered on plants and decarbonization in art and design—a fresh ecological revolution. This year, I will be a jury member for the festival, an honor I take great pride in.
Regarding your future projects: how do you think this experience may have enriched your artistic career? What are your plans for the future?
In truth, it is impossible to predict how and to what extent a project might transform your life or career. I remain open and receptive. Looking ahead, I plan to continue cultivating the projects I have sown with passion over the years. My dearest endeavor, however, is a book on my latest research, particularly the incredible experience I had at the College of Physicians in Madrid, specifically with the Ruta de La Vida (Path of Life). This initiative is the latest chapter in my decades-long research on The Imagined Body, which profoundly transformed my life and way of thinking.
In December we will inaugurate a public installation resulting from an intense collaboration with artists from various disciplines. Titled El Árbol de la Vida (The Tree of Life), it will be a multidisciplinary piece dedicated to the symbolism of the oak tree, a native species of Carabanchel, and a collective artwork inspired by and created for the local community.