Di Fretto
Of Italian descent descent through her father and Polish through her mother, Aurélie Fretti grew up in a village in eastern France, at the heart of an exuberant working-class Italian community.
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For many years, Aurélie worked in advertising in Paris. But for her, everything truly began with an inner shift—a quiet rupture, almost inevitable. Around the age of forty, motherhood became a turning point. She left urban life behind to settle in a wilder environment, first on the edge of the Rambouillet forest, and later in the Luberon. Isolation, slowing down, and proximity to nature became powerful jolts that compelled her to reinvent herself.
“I had no choice but to devote… my life to it. Am I being dramatic? Just Italian,” she says with humor.
What had once been a hobby became essential. Without any formal training, she instinctively discovered ceramics, later expanding her exploration by working alongside tailors and sculptors in wood and stone. Very quickly, she understood that this gesture was not merely a practice, but a true language. Her very first piece was a foot—“a bit clumsy, but full of sincerity.” It became a foundational symbol. “Those hours spent working on it, like a form of meditation, made me realize that not only did I love sculpting, but that it allowed me to be myself.”
For many years, Aurélie worked in advertising in Paris. But for her, everything truly began with an inner shift—a quiet rupture, almost inevitable. Around the age of forty, motherhood became a turning point. She left urban life behind to settle in a wilder environment, first on the edge of the Rambouillet forest, and later in the Luberon. Isolation, slowing down, and proximity to nature became powerful jolts that compelled her to reinvent herself.
“I had no choice but to devote… my life to it. Am I being dramatic? Just Italian,” she says with humor.
What had once been a hobby became essential. Without any formal training, she instinctively discovered ceramics, later expanding her exploration by working alongside tailors and sculptors in wood and stone. Very quickly, she understood that this gesture was not merely a practice, but a true language. Her very first piece was a foot—“a bit clumsy, but full of sincerity.” It became a foundational symbol. “Those hours spent working on it, like a form of meditation, made me realize that not only did I love sculpting, but that it allowed me to be myself.”
Aurélie Fretti’s work stands out for its freedom of gesture and material. She moves fluidly between casting resin mixed with marble, bronze, or aluminum powder, and attacking a tree stump with a chainsaw to shape it into a monumental twist. From this approach emerged her emblematic piece - the Babka - named in homage to the Polish brioche of her childhood—an organic, generous piece that has become her signature.
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At the heart of her creative process lies a key notion: which Aurélie calls "presque". imperfection, once perceived as failure, becomes a space of freedom. Mistakes open up, transform, and enrich.
Italy is another major source of inspiration. The return to the body in Antiquity finds expression in a form of sculpture she projects into a contemporary universe. Roman bas-reliefs become wall lights, while certain pieces, such as the Upside Down lamp, evoke Sicilian vases—but inverted, caught in an identity crisis, the head transformed into a source of light, a symbol of life. Her relationship to the body is also central: the physical body engaged in effort, but also the body as it engages with the senses.“ Everything stems from the body—and by extension, from nature.”
Aurélie’s trajectory took a decisive turn with her encounter with Chiara Colombini in 2024. At the time, she was still working in a small studio, and plagued by doubt. “Chiara perceived a sensitive strength in my pieces, whereas I still had doubts.” That recognition acted as a catalyst. A first exhibition in Paris followed, marking her entry into a more professional circle.
At the heart of her creative process lies a key notion: which Aurélie calls "presque". imperfection, once perceived as failure, becomes a space of freedom. Mistakes open up, transform, and enrich.
Italy is another major source of inspiration. The return to the body in Antiquity finds expression in a form of sculpture she projects into a contemporary universe. Roman bas-reliefs become wall lights, while certain pieces, such as the Upside Down lamp, evoke Sicilian vases—but inverted, caught in an identity crisis, the head transformed into a source of light, a symbol of life. Her relationship to the body is also central: the physical body engaged in effort, but also the body as it engages with the senses.“ Everything stems from the body—and by extension, from nature.”
Aurélie’s trajectory took a decisive turn with her encounter with Chiara Colombini in 2024. At the time, she was still working in a small studio, and plagued by doubt. “Chiara perceived a sensitive strength in my pieces, whereas I still had doubts.” That recognition acted as a catalyst. A first exhibition in Paris followed, marking her entry into a more professional circle.
Today, in the Luberon, Aurélie continues her research in an environment that has profoundly transformed her relationship to time and creation. “Here, time has expanded.”
Each piece thus becomes a fragment of herself—an instinctive exploration where sensuality and brutality, strength and fragility coexist. “My work expresses my wild side.” Doubt, far from being an obstacle, remains a driving force, maintaining an essential tension. Following the now-iconic Babka collection, Aurélie has just launched a new collection, Drappegio.
Each piece is entirely handmade.
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