OSCARMASCHERA OSCARMASCHERA is a 100% Italian company that was founded in 2005 out of Oscar Maschera’s and Claudia Serafini’s profound experience in and knowledge of materials. Surrounded by the timeless and romantic countryside of Pesaro, the two artists convey their creativity into the production of unique, refined items and small pieces of furniture, all made of leather and natural materials. Here, between medieval walls and suggestive views, the traditional art of leatherworking becomes a contemporary expression of creativity. OSCARMASCHERA has developed out of Oscar’s and Claudia’s love for and commitment to their artistic craft. The product range goes from magazine-holder baskets to log-holders and various-sized boxes, from desk accessories and picture frames to benches, poufs, stools, refined mirrors, carpets and lamps. Oscar Maschera collaborates with internationally renowned designers such as Nestor Perkal, Claude Bouchard and Nathalie du Pasquier. Collections o Accessories=baskets,boxes,trays,desksets,frames,etc. o Bombo=smallcoffeetables/stools,instonewareandleather. o CaballitoBlanco=steelmeshbencheswithleather,fabric,suedeorsheepskinseatcover. o Caballitoblanco#blanco=steelmeshbencheswithleatherseatcovercolorwhitewitha pattern by Nathalie du Pasquier printed in silk-screen printing. o Isole=collectionoftableswithsteelbaseandinlaidleathertop. o MiroirsetTapis=mirrorsandcarpets. o Pouf!=ottomansinleatherandsuede. o Stecco=floorlampandtabletamp. About us Our work is a research: we give our fantasy free rain, when experimenting and manipulating an object in leather. The researcher proceeds and invents. Given a road, it goes all the way along it, backwards and forwards, and then begins to visit its surroundings. It is the same for us. We explore the leather: creating corners, cutting edges and joining the parts. Every object is an invention, because it is a stage in the research, and never the end point of the production. Like footprints in the sand, our objects represent a story made up of different chapters. Every element of this story, every collection, has its own independent life. Foglia Couture, Caballito Blanco, Miroirs et Tapis, Bombo, Stecco, Isole, Pouf!, Caballito Blanco#Blanco. Every name in this sequence is a step, a track, a memory. But what better expresses the idea of our project is the togetherness of all the collections, the direction that they all take as one, like a slipstream along the coast. Inventing as a job is first and foremost a pleasure. Combining the materials, folding the lines, choosing the colours, modelling, constructing. And above all playing it down, letting the objects be free to invent a new space, observing how they come to modify what they are next to: a room, a place, the everyday routine. The imagination creates a horizon. The designs are perceived in an ideal world. The next step, the one that allows you to turn the images into objects, is the heart of our work. Experience puts what was initially imagined into effect. And the whole of our production represents this operation. Material All our objects are made in full grain leather, that is the outermost layer and most valuable part of the hide. It is an authentic, Italian, vegetable-tanned material (tannins extracted from the bark of certain plants such as mimosa and chestnut). Processing is traditional: it is a process that requires time and accuracy. The leather must retain all of its characteristics and its history. After immersion in the barrels, the drying, dyeing and the ironing, the chosen material is ready to be manipulated, cut and sewn. This is the path the hide follows before arriving at our workshop to be transformed into everyday objects. Our work is carried out by hand, and it is like the sail for the sailor and the foot for the shepherd. Time in industry is made up of sirens and traffic lights, that of the farmer is marked by the seasons. A craftsman’s time is an invention. The workshop is the favourite place. Time passes quickly, chasing ideas with the hands, just like when we are enjoying ourselves. Our leather objects are created in a positive time: that of care. Taking care is not a quality to add to the task that has already been performed, but rather an essential part of the work. Care is the difference between a piece of craftsmanship and a commodity.