Adding a sacred fire to the Winter Season
The Illumination of Rêve de Feu
by Allyson Volpe
“Fire is my element,” explains artist and sculptor of fire, Roberta Cipriani. It is part of my identity.” In her most recent collection, Rêve de Feu, Cipriani has created beautifully designed table centrepieces which when illuminated with candles speak of their own sacred symbols.
“I think every artist should have their own language and doing fire sculptures is my language,” explains Cipriani. “The light of fire is my language.” For Cipriani, the fire is a deeply personal element not only in her life, but it also pertains to humanity with its profound sacredness and meaning. In her Rêve de Feu collection, Cipriani manifests the sacred geometric symbols vis a’ vis the number of candles designed in each of her pieces: those that hold seven candles are for the days of creation, three candles are for the trinity, and one candle is the source of all. “Fire is alchemical and has the power to transform us and bring us to something higher,” Cipriani smiles. “Heaven is reflected on earth. And the fire of Love reflects back up to Heaven.”
With her intrepid spirit, Tuscan Born Cipriani has been a seeker of knowledge and inspiration for years. being a former mathematics teacher and advocate of Rudolph Steiner and anthroposophical philosophy (spirit science), being a trained architect and travelling along a spiritual path, she was naturally inspired by the genius of Leonardo da Vinci, especially during this year of the 500th anniversary of his death. “My centrepieces are crafted from the golden proportions, sacred geometry and the alchemical symbols,” explains Cipriani. Within the fire sculptures of this collection, her intention was to replicate the secret symbols of Light reflected in the divine language commonly understood in both Leonardo’s work and the Renaissance times. In this collection can be found the sacred geometries of the Vitruvian Man represented in the hexagon and the Flower of Life that symbolised the whole process of creation for Leonardo da Vinci.
Among Leonardo’s vast corpus of written work can be discovered what the significance held for him: “Il foco è da esser messo per consumatore d'ogni sofistico e scopritore e dimostratore di verità, perché lui è luce, scacciatore delle tenebre occultatrici d' ogni essenzia” The fire is to be placed as a consumer of every sophistry and A discoverer and demonstrator of truth, because he is a light, a suppressor of the darkness of all essential beings.
For the artist, the fire is also deeply imbued with ties to our ancestral past as bygone generations used to unite around the fire. “Today as humans, we try and keep fire at a distance,” explains Cipriani. “I wanted to bring fire back to the table as a way of uniting people.” As Cipriani began her own personal journey and spiritual development, inevitably so too did her creative process transform. “My original outdoor fire sculptures that I started doing 15 years ago were done in unrefined iron which also represented the ancient iron born from the earth and melded with fire.”
As the personal meaning of fire became more important and the symbols of sacred geometry became more apparent to her, she began designing more portable sized pieces intended to be brought indoors and placed as a centrepiece for the table. The sculptures changed to incorporate candles and their finish includes a choice of gold or silver. Cipriani concludes, “I bring the concept of Fire as a center piece for indoor and outdoor use, so the element of Fire — intended as a sacred element, ancient memory of humanity that brings us together and warms our hearts — becomes the hub of the house.”
