Amidst the comings and goings of planes flying over the vicinity of Palma airport, Jessica Cilione observes, while in her workshop, the wood she has collected from beaches, forests and prunings as if she were observing a road full of forks and, in each one of them, detecting an opportunity. The space, discreet, humble and almost hidden, is not easy to find, but it houses everything she needs to give free rein to her creativity.
A Mallorca resident since 2018, Jessica arrived here from Germany, but in reality her homeland is Sicily. There she saw throughout her childhood how her father, 'in his spare time, worked with wood', but, as she acknowledges, 'he never transmitted it to me nor did it catch my attention, perhaps because of a cultural issue. However, I think I had it inside me and I found my own way'.
This path is that of someone who creates objects - tables, fruit bowls, key rings, candle holders and above all lamps - from reused wood in her own project, Coco Wood Art, a journey that began to take shape during her confinement. 'I had a lot of time to think about and analyze myself. I've always been very creative and at that time we had to take advantage of what we was at our reach and value it.'
With the pandemic as a catalyst, her head 'clicked' - as she defines it - enjoying a day in nature even with restrictions. A curiously shaped trunk was her first inspiration and then she discovered her vocation: 'I wanted to transmit to people that from something that perhaps seems to have no use, you can actually make a profit'.
"I wanted to transmit to people that from something that perhaps seems to have no use, you can actually make a profit."
With studies in fashion and interior design, the goal was to reuse what she had at hand and give it another life in a difficult economic moment. And she went for it: with discarded furniture, through painting and also starting in the world of lighting, something she learned 'self-taught, watching videos, trying and failing a lot'.
Any place on this island, where she settled in 2018, happens to be a good scenario to find inspiring materials. Coves and beaches -especially after a storm-, forests, prunings and fallen trees. After collecting them, she tries to visualize them and take only what she thinks she will use because the idea, what she longs to create, sometimes precedes the trunk and, on other occasions, after finding the trunk, the idea comes to life.
Back in the workshop, the drying process begins. She has been coming here every day to work since she outgrew her backyard and felt she was starting to somehow annoy the neighbors. Here she has found everything she needs for now.'It's close to home, to my daughters' school and surrounded by countryside', where she has planted a vegetable garden for the family's own consumption.
"As a woman, I feel empowered and I think I am setting a good example for my daughters. They can do whatever they want to do, if they put effort and determination into it."
With her own hands and the necessary machinery to shape her original pieces, which show that recycling is not at odds with elegance or beauty, she creates handcrafted objects from pine, olive and fir trees that make a house more of a home thanks to, as she defines it, 'a mixture of love for nature and design'.
Jessica watches the planes fly by as she talks about her future, cautiously and enthusiastically. I would like to expand the workshop, maybe have a showroom, establish synergies with brands which values are consistent with my philosophy...', she says. But her head is in the present and her gratitude goes to those who have believed in her and have been there along the way, like her husband, 'a fundamental person in this project'.
In good company, with a few doses of good taste, a touch of design and a deep respect for nature, Jessica has been writing her own story through objects, most of them created under commission, that capture and transmit her sustainable know-how and a sensitive look that extols the beauty of what surrounds us.
Almost four years now since that day when her head just clicked, she now reflects on what we can call achievements, that set of goals reached: 'As a person I feel very proud of myself. Years ago I wouldn't have thought of quitting my job and starting from zero. As a woman, I feel empowered and I think I'm setting a good example for my daughters. They can do whatever they want to do, if they put in the effort. We can't think of a better reward.
