How I Became a Maker: Biophilia, Materials, and My Journey Back to Nature

I spent years working in a world that felt totally separated from the changing seasons.

In my old corporate life, I was tucked away in a desk far from the nearest window. During the winter months, I would arrive in the dark and leave in the dark, rarely seeing the sun. I felt a heavy, persistent unbalance—that "winter fog" that settles into your bones. I didn't realize it then, but I was starving for a connection to the natural world.

When I finally decided to leave that corporate world behind, I knew I wanted to do something meaningful, but I had no idea what that was. I just knew I needed to breathe again.

The Search for my Call

I started taking long walks in nature, letting my mind settle into the calm and serenity of the woodlands. I decided I wanted to find a creative hobby, something that would feed my soul and bring me closer to nature and to the beauty I had been missing. I enrolled in a floral design course. It was there that I first discovered preserved flowers, moss, ferns and foliage.

I was completely fascinated. These plants looked and felt so incredibly fresh and lively, yet they were no longer living. They existed in a strange, wonderful, "in-between" state.

Around that same time, I moved into a new home. I wanted to fill it with that same feeling of the outdoors, so I looked for courses on how to handcraft moss art. When I couldn't find any, I decided to simply trust my instincts. I became self-taught, spending hours letting my hands figure out how to arrange the textures of moss and ferns into something sculptural. I wasn't just making "decor"; I was healing myself and building something that was my true calling.

Finding Balance Indoors

The transformation wasn't just in my home; it was in me.

Having that moss art on my walls changed how I felt every day. Just passing by the wall pieces affects you, even if you don't realize. At times I just stopped by, taking mindful pauses, touching the soft and vibrant textures of the moss, getting lost in the tiny details of the pieces I handcrafted myself. It was a slow and unconscious transformation, I felt that same sense of awe you get when you're out in nature, but indoors. That heavy unbalance I had felt for years started to lift. My wellbeing was finally returning.

I became obsessed with the "why." I started researching Biophilia and Biophilic Design, and I was fascinated to learn that we are biologically wired to need nature. Studies showed that simply being surrounded by natural forms and materials could help people overcome physical and mental health challenges. I realized that today, we spend over 90% of our time indoors. We have a deep, biological craving for the connection I had found in such an unusual way.

Ninfa Studio

Before I shared this with the world, I spent a long time experimenting. In 2019, I placed my pieces in different conditions around my home to see if they truly lasted. I was astonished to see that they held their softness and their vibrant energy without changing. It felt like I had found a way to "anchor" nature indoors as unique artworks that made people feel good. How wonderful that was, I had to share this with the world! I gave it a chance and built my own website and Ninfa Studio was born....

Choosing the name Ninfa was a way to keep my Italian origins, I grew up in a town near the wonderful Garden of Ninfa, south of Rome. A wonder-full garden with exotic plants and Roman ruins... a fairytale world. That is the place where I felt the sense of awe for the first time, as a child. And this was the exact feeling I wanted people to experience through my work.

Looking back at those early days in 2019, I could never have imagined where this path would lead. I never expected that my self-taught experiments would lead to winning awards or exhibiting my work internationally at some of the world’s most prestigious craft and design fairs, like COLLECT.

But the most rewarding part hasn't been the accolades; it’s been the commissions.

A Healing Journey Full Circle

Whether I’m creating a piece for a private home, a spa, office or a quiet nursing home, I see the same thing happen: the work helps people. Knowing that my biophilic artworks are actually helping others recover, find peace and reconnect with nature is a dream come true.

It has been a healing journey for me, as much as for the people who live with my work. I realize now that handcrafting with nature was my calling all along—I just had to go through the dark to find it. I am so deeply grateful that I did.