The Perception of Water (Water Perceiving a Simple Cone-Shaped Topiary) is not only the name of the new rug designed by Maria Thereza Alves (1961, Brazil) for Carpet Edition. The Brazilian artist and activist’s new creation lays the groundwork for a reflection born from simple topiary art and was officially premiered in the perfect garden spot, at Orticolario 2023.

In ornamental pruning a dominant role is played by symmetry. A proportion which, in topiary art, remains constant throughout the cutting and that, in Maria Thereza Alves’ intuition opens to a meaningful as well as necessary assessment of excessive “human interventions”, which are often identified with a human-centric gaze, to intervene in what the artist herself defines as “sinuous branches of a tree, closely observed while defending their balance in a continual search for the best natural resources. Their growth depends on sun and rain” explains Maria Thereza Alves.

This work is an homage to the freedom of trees and their capacity to grow spontaneously and harmoniously, regardless of the efforts by man to contain them and limit their growth. A view that overrides human-centeredness, a much-needed reaction to the signs that the resourcefulness of humans is bringing to the natural world, that accompanies the viewer to rethink, in a concrete way, the relationship between humans and nature.

A garden, that of Carpet Edition, made with New Zealand wool and Tencel and marked by hand tafting that defines decorations and delineates its horizons. The rug, in fact, was created using natural fibers and blends perfectly with its surroundings, creating a bond so strong that it overcomes any counterpoints. “Like a mirror of water that can perceive and recreate the joyful celebration of one who is free” concludes Maria Thereza Alves. With a simple cone shape the center of the universe is upended and the measure of all things is recalibrated in favor of environmental balance.

The collaboration with the Brazilian artist, who lives between Naples and Berlin, reconfirms Carpet Edition’s renewed interest in contemporary art and its recent forays into it. Two increasingly close worlds, that of art and that of design, remind us that reclaiming natural elements, today more than ever, is truly possible thanks to the support of artistic practice.