Giovanna Molinari-Casile is a Swiss-based botanical sculptor working at the intersection of art and science.
At the core of her work lies a rigorous process of study, observation, and transformation, where knowledge, craftsmanship, and artistic vision converge.
Her practice is rooted in precise botanical observation and anatomical analysis, with each element studied, deconstructed, and reconstructed with accuracy.
Working with Japanese washi papers — including kozo and kitakata — and natural fibers, she develops a material language that combines lightness, structure, and durability.
Influenced by the harmony of Japanese aesthetics and grounded in the Swiss biosphere landscape, her work reflects a deep engagement with plant forms and natural systems.
GIOVANNA MOLINARI-CASILE
Botanical Sculptural Artist · Interior Architect · Designer · Lecturer
Giovanna Molinari-Casile is a Swiss-based botanical sculptor working at the intersection of art, science and design. Since childhood, her work has been guided by the need to reveal and preserve the hidden architecture of nature.
Trained as an interior architect and designer, she brings a rigorous three-dimensional approach to botanical representation, focusing on morphological accuracy and structural fidelity.
Her work is rooted in a lifelong connection to the plant world, shaped by a family tradition deeply connected to botany and by her classical studies in Latin and Greek, which inform her scientific understanding of plant taxonomy. Having grown up between the landscapes of the Mediterranean—rich in diverse flora—and the Swiss Alps, known for their aromatic herbal diversity, she developed a sensitivity to both botanical structure and atmosphere.
Working with fine handmade papers — including Japanese washi (Kozo), Italian crepe paper, and Nepalese handmade fibers — her sculptures are entirely handcrafted and acid-free. Each piece is developed through careful observation of real specimens and translated into precise, large-scale or life-size forms, often revealing botanical elements that are normally hidden underground.
She creates commissioned works, with a particular focus on the study and reconstruction of European and Asian orchids.
Influenced by Japanese aesthetics and a contemporary, linear sensibility, her practice seeks balance, purity and essential form. Her works are presented internationally in exhibitions and private collections. She works closely with her husband, Cesare, an interior architect, with whom she shares a multidisciplinary approach to space, form and material.
Her work is sustained by a deeply rooted personal dimension, supported by her family, including her son Filippo, whose attentive and discerning perspective contributes quietly to the refinement of her practice.
She develops her work within momo pure, her atelier established over many years and part of Aeven Interiors. The website is currently under development. The name “momo,” meaning peach tree in Japanese, carries both a cultural resonance and a personal memory, dedicated to her mother.
Living and working within a Swiss alpine biosphere known for its cultivation of aromatic herbs, she is closely engaged with plant cultivation and the sensory world of natural essences, which continues to inform her artistic research.
Based in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, she works internationally through her studio.
