Meet Elena Salmistraro | product designer and artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elena Salmistraro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elena, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
After completing my studies, like everyone else, I began searching for a job in established firms, aiming to delve into the professional world and fully understand its dynamics. It was important for me to grasp how to approach it and, above all, discern the real differences between the academic and professional contexts.

However, after a few weeks, I experienced an extremely specialized organizational system. I realized that to progress, a rigorous specialization in a specific field was required, with the risk of completely neglecting other facets. This approach was not what I expected and did not align with my expectations and inclinations.

The experience was disappointing and prompted profound reflection on my path. I decided to make a radical change: I chose to abandon apparent security and fully commit myself. I sold my car and, with the few savings I had accumulated, embarked on the path of self-production, giving life to my first objects.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

My work is highly interdisciplinary, ranging from graphic design to illustration, from product design to fashion, from interiors to artistic installations. I believe this sets me apart from my colleagues. Personally, I find great enjoyment in working at the boundaries of various disciplines, I like to cross-pollinate, overlap, and seek experimentation through hybridization. Naturally, I make mistakes and start over, but that’s what entertains and motivates me every day. In my work, history and innovation overlap, as do pop culture and concept, lightness and culture. My journey hasn’t been easy from the start, as I realized I was always perceived as an anomaly, both in the world of design and in that of art and illustration. These are realms where orthodox visions of the discipline are often preferred. However, fueled by my stubbornness, I continued to follow a path that I felt and still feel is entirely mine. When I received my first official recognition with the projects Primates and Polifemo, I understood that I was probably moving in the right direction. If I were to pinpoint the most important lesson I have learned to date in my brief professional journey, it would definitely be to follow one’s own vision and creative instinct, considering everything around us as a stimulus and never as a constraint.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Milan is a city in constant evolution, almost as if it were a living organism. In just a few years, some areas can undergo radical transformations, both for better and for worse. If I were to show my city to a friend visiting for the first time, I would certainly first take them to the places that are dearest to me: the Navigli and the Darsena, with their charming alleys and the many places to eat, drink, and relax. Subsequently, as expected on a tourist tour, I would take them to the beating heart of Milan: the Duomo, the undisputed symbol of the city, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, La Scala, the Sforzesco Castle, and the Brera district, full of artistic and cultural charm. A visit to Leonardo’s Last Supper and the Ossuary of San Bernardino could not be missed, to immerse oneself in the history and art that pervade every corner of this city. Despite its not excessively large size, Milan offers a surprising variety of hidden corners and architectural details to discover, so I would accompany my friend on a walk through the lesser-known alleys and the less celebrated buildings, to grasp the authentic essence of the city. And if we had a little more time available, I would also go to the farmhouses, to savour the genuine flavours and discover Milan’s rural roots. And why not, perhaps also indulge in a quiet walk along the shores of Lake Como.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Probably I have to thank all the people I have met until today, because they are the ones who have made me what I am today, for better or for worse. But if I had to make a short list, probably the first would be my grandfather Adolfo, who since I was little encouraged me to follow my path and my passions, supporting them. It is with him that I began to discover art in museums and to look at drawing in a different way. Then there was a university professor, Italo Rota, who showed me a different way of understanding the project. Without any doubt, the meeting with Alessandro Mendini and his advice to protect the child that each of us carries inside. And finally, but not least, my family and my husband, who have supported and tolerated me from day one, becoming also my first collaborators in this adventure.

Website: www.elenasalmistraro.com

Instagram: @elenasalmistraro

Linkedin: elena salmistraro

Facebook: elenasalmistrarodesign

Image Credits
ph1 – Tiziano Rossi ph2 – Massimo Gardone ph5 – Beppe Brancato ph6 – Marco Pietracupa