An installation depicting a suspended female figure surrounded by five red-enameled stones, symbolizing the collective trauma of feminicide. This is how Caterina Roppo, a multidisciplinary artist and winner of the Special Prize Incalmi for Arte Laguna Prize, decided to synthesize the research path we have shared over the past year, putting for the first time our craft culture at the service of art.

It all starts with Trayma, a conceptual work Caterina Roppo has been working on for some time and has declined in different forms of expression - from photography to performance to installation. "The idea took shape quickly," the artist recounts in her working diary, recalling her first meeting with Incalmi. "We decided to intertwine that technique [fire enamel on copper, ed.] with my research, to present something that spoke not only of aesthetics, but of essence. I proposed a series in which DNA becomes the symbol of our deep roots: those filaments that run through the body, unique, unrepeatable, but also the children of a long history of experiences, traumas, and transformations."

First, the research focuses on stone. "Stone, with its breaks and imperfections, symbolizes the complexity and diversity of the human experience," Roppo writes. "Each break may represent an individual experience, a moment of difficulty or suffering, but together they form a unique and meaningful fabric. Could emphasizing these ruptures help both me and Incalmi send a message that resonates over time?" But it is the introduction of Trayma fabric, a fabric created by the artist and characterized by lacerations and scars, that opens up real material experimentation. "The transfer of matter between fabric and enamel is powerful: the enamel has taken on the form of stone and fabric, becoming a new material," notes Roppo, whose exploration of matter goes hand in hand with reasoning on the theme of the transmission of trauma. "Patrizia shares with me the first images of copper sprayed on stone and fabric. She is thrilled, I am thunderstruck. In this moment we understand that we have created something unique: a material that tells organic stories, interweaving rebirth and memory. I arrive at Incalmi in Venice, immersed in my reflections."

As the trial progresses, Caterina Roppo brings into sharper focus the message, which from the beginning revolves around the theme of epigenetics, that is, the ability of genes to retain memory of trauma. "In femicide, trauma does not stop at the victim, but takes root, extending like a shadow over genetic heirs. This epigenetic transmission is like copper covering a void: instead of concealing the wound, it highlights it, making it visible and inescapable, a constant reminder of the violence suffered. [...] I remember my first textile sculpture presented in Istanbul, inspired by the shape of a dress, and this insight now guides me to create a work that weaves fabric, copper and enamel together. It is not just a sculpture, but a dress sculpture that becomes a symbol of memories and absent bodies, a dialogue between space, matter, and the void that leaves indelible traces."

Il vuoto di Trayma is an artwork celebrating memory and the capacity for healing. At the center of the installation stands a dress, suspended in the void, representing the interrupted lives and unfinished stories of the victims, a silent and powerful presence. Around the dress there are five stones, originated from a quarry in Apulia, Caterina Roppo's homeland, they symbolize the weight of inheritance and the figures connected to family. Each stone, embraced by red-enameled copper sculptures, represents the possibility of resilience and transformation. Symbols of solidity and memory, the stones are transformed into canvases where narratives and emotions are painted through the powerful and bold colors of the enamel, which, when applied to copper, becomes the tangible sign of transformation and rebirth. Copper covers and reveals at the same time, making visible the deep traces of experience.