WALL DÉCOR IN RAW EARTH

Raw soil and wall textures:
Art of gesture and footprints of nature

Sara Ranieri shapes the raw earth in wall coverings and decorative objects, singular and poetic,
in a gesture that is both millennial and contemporary. Committed to an ecological and local approach,
it creates vibrant and vibrant surfaces where matter dialogues with
light, space, know-how and the human.

Architect by training, Sara Ranieri created Terrae project in 2022, with the desire to restore its letters of nobility to the raw earth in the world of interior design. This ancestral material, which she considers a real “skin” of interiors, solid and delicate, is at the heart of her approach. Sara sublimates the walls of particular interiors, intervenes for sharp scenographies, offers her creations in raw earth for restaurants or high-end retail, and creates objects rich in meaning and minimalists.

Her creations are part of an approach that is both aesthetic and ecological. It works exclusively with natural, local lands, chosen for their origin, their plasticity, their shades, and their absence of chemical compounds.

Combining technical expertise, mastery of the gesture, the look of an artist and surprises of the matter, Sara sublimates the interiors by its very strong relationship to this symbolic and ancestral material (as she expresses in the ephemeral installation Mémoires, in 2024 in Montreuil), to which she adds her aesthetic universe.

With stencils that she imagines, by modeling the volumes, by sowing geometric reliefs as if embroidered in the earth, or by adding plant elements whose imprints draw living landscapes, she creates organic, warm, unexpected universes.

The exclusive choice of raw earth:
a living and local material

Sara Ranieri is a purist and an artist of matter. She chooses to work with raw earth, extracted locally, which she prepares, cleans and sifts in her workshop. She also uses powdered clays sourced from trusted suppliers. Both methods allow a great natural chromatic diversity, without the addition of pigments, for soft and timeless shades. These parry the walls in the manner of a smooth, wrinkled or velvety membrane, adding a living and symbolic material to the interiors. The regional anchoring of the material is essential for this craftsman and architect, who recalls that in some expansion projects for example, the extracted earth can serve as a basic material, precious and specific to the place, and be transformed into an interior coating full of meaning and aesthetics. These coatings contribute to the comfort of the space. Healthy (VOC-free), they naturally regulate humidity and, applied in a thicker layer, they can offer acoustic properties.

After a precise preparation of her material, Sara applies it by hand, in an artisanal approach that favors the excellence of the gesture and the attention to detail. Her knowledge of the material, her hours of experimentation, allow her to imagine reliefs, textures, games of singular reflections and nuances, changing with brightness, seasons.

Decorative approaches:
prints and bas-reliefs

Sara Ranieri’s work resonates particularly in high-end projects, sensitive to natural materials and rare and ancestral know-how.

Imprinted coatings: while the clay is still fresh, she applies natural elements – foliage, branches – which are printed in hollows. This technique captures the delicacy and fragility of organic textures and creates a vibrating surface, in dialogue with light.

Hollow or full bas-reliefs: made using stencils designed by the artist, these patterns are applied in superposition of clay layers of slightly contrasting shades. The sculpted stripes become a field of exploration between texture and light, like vibrating monochromatic canvases.

Other specific techniques, such as that of controlled natural cracks, provide more fragmented elements. Sara also plays on the juxtaposition of finishes: a raw and granular surface can rub shoulders with a smooth and patinated texture, creating a subtle play of depth and material and reflections.

Working with architects and decorators

If she now works mainly with individuals, Sara Ranieri is developing her collaborations with interior designers, decorators and set designers. Her mural creations are inserted both in residential spaces and in restaurants, shops, shop windows or projects linking art and decoration. A first meeting allows him to understand the expectations and evaluate the compatibility between her approach and the final project. She receives her clients in her workshops in Montreuil and the south of France, where she presents her samples and research on raw earth. However, since light and the environment are essential to the perception of textures, it always favors an on-site visit before any proposal. After this exchange, she makes a quote, then two samples to explore textures and shades of earth. Once the choices have been validated, she begins the manufacture and application of coatings, a job whose deadlines depend largely on climatic conditions and drying times.

An emblematic project:
the poetic wall of a staircase in Provence

In 2023, a couple owning an old house in a village in the south of France contacted her to dress a staircase wall. Initially seduced by a pink coating seen in his workshop, they finally opted, in discussion with Sara, for a vibrant yellow shade, echoing the period cement tiles already present in the house. In a constant dialogue with customers, Sara Ranieri designed a custom floral pattern, applied with a stencil.

Sara remembers the challenge that summer: the speed of execution was essential, because the high heat accelerates the drying of the clay. Thanks to her perfect mastery of the gesture and the material, she created a unique wall where textures and shades echo the natural light of the place.

With her rare wall clays, Sara Ranieri shapes spaces in symbiosis with their environment. In memory of a millennial technique and gesture, forgotten from our modern practices, she brings her eye and her artistic gestures. His work, between art crafts and interior architecture, renews our look at natural materials and their place in our living, exhibition or passage spaces.

Credits : ©Sara Barcaroli, ©Terraeproject