foto di Ornella Mercier

My work explores symbols and folklore as ways of tracing collective memory, identity and belonging. By rethinking archives, vernacular objects and visual traditions, I question the cultural narratives they preserve and reproduce.

I investigate collective rituals and club culture as spaces where bodies claim freedom, care and participation. My practice reflects on accessibility, interdependence and the politics of participation, translating gestures and movements into a visual language that reveals how bodies, objects and traditions intertwine to tell collective stories.

BIO

Cecilia Sammarco (Cosenza, 1989) is an Italian visual artist based in Rome. She graduated in Architecture from Sapienza University of Rome and later specialised in editorial illustration at Mimaster Illustrazione in Milan. Her practice investigates care, interdependence and collective experience through painting, drawing and textile works. By rethinking archives, vernacular objects and inherited visual cultures, she questions how visual narratives shape ideas of belonging, access and conformity. Since a spinal cord injury in 2019, she has painted using a custom-made hand strap that enables her to work with her paralysed hands. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Bogotá, and she has collaborated with international institutions, organisations and brands including BASE Milano, Outsider Art Fair, TEDx, Condé Nast, Vogue Italia, Il Sole 24 Ore, la Repubblica and UNIQLO.

Selected Collaborations

UNIQLO, Vogue.it, Istituto Italiano di Cutura Bogotà, Espacio KB, Tedx Leverano, BASE Milano, ROMADIFFUSA, Spring Attitude, THiRTYONE Design and Managment, Miscelanea Barcelona, Honiro Art Gallery, Le Dimore del Quartetto, ISDIN, Condé Nast, Cambi Aste, Galleria Rubin, Fondazione Brivio Sforza, Mulieris Magazine, Sole 24 Ore, La Repubblica, Domani Editoriale…

Selected Publications