Annarita Bianco is a designer and silversmith and the founder of Merıstėma Lab, an experimental design studio that adopts a Research through Design approach. Much like an alchemist's laboratory, her studio transforms matter, melts substances, and reimagines materials, merging influences from diverse disciplines into entirely new forms. Inspired by the concept of meristem—a type of plant tissue containing undifferentiated cells—any idea in her practice can evolve into a creation that transcends traditional design boundaries: jewellery, objects and graphic design, blending traditional craftsmanship with technological innovation, analog with digital, and biological with artificial.

After graduating in architectural design and gaining experience in graphic design, Annarita sought to combine practical making with theoretical research by training as a goldsmith. She strives to push beyond conventional definitions of jewelry, crafting symbolic objects that provoke reflection on urgent global issues: from the climate crisis to the interplay between humans and technology, as well as memory and somatic experiences.

Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Design for Made in Italy at the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli,” where her research centres on developing processes to design jewellery and wearables that enable interspecies care. She is also a lecturer in Eco-Product Design and Fashion Design courses at the Department of Architecture and Design.

Western thought has been rooted in the dualism of mind and body for centuries. The Leib—the lived body, which experiences sensations, emotions, and actions—and the Körper—the objectified body, analysable and measurable from the outside. This separation established the primacy of the mind, reducing the body to a mechanical function, merely a passive instrument disconnected from subjective experience. Modern philosophy has sought to mend this fracture by bringing the soma—a Greek term signifying the inseparable unity of body and mind—back to the centre of inquiry. The so-called “somatic turn” emphasises that cognition is always embodied: the lived body is not just a physical object but a dynamic structure intertwined with the world and shaped by experience.
This holistic perspective reveals a deep, bodily knowledge—one often inexpressible in words. The body records experiences, emotions, and traumas not just as a vessel for the mind but as an active force that co-creates reality. Sensory and perceptual experiences leave imprints not only on our psyche but also on our physical being, continuously shaping cognition. These painful experiences become embedded in bodily attitudes, crystallising into postures, tensions, and somatic patterns that are difficult to undo.

The Hold Me series explores vulnerability as an act of risk, exposure, and partial surrender of autonomy. The human body's inherent fragility is essential to inter-corporeal relationships, as the body mediates between what is internal, hidden, and subjective and what is external, explicit, and observable. This negotiation is necessary yet complex, often fraught with conflict.
The pieces in this series materialise a reflection on how, in specific contexts and relationships, the mind and body become trapped in ingrained “postures”—deeply rooted patterns that generate discomfort yet remain challenging to escape. The resin forms, moulded to follow the body's contours, invite touch: they embrace the curves of the neck, hands, fingers, collarbones, and knees. At the same time, the metal elements embedded in the smooth surfaces create an opposing tension—micro-spheres, small cones, and fine wires repel the touch, making contact uncomfortable, even unpleasant.
Holding these objects is a voluntary yet often painful act. This gesture reflects the intricate relationship between vulnerability and resistance, the longing for connection and the need for protection.

Materials: Resin, Silver

Tecniques: 3D scanning, 3D modeling, goldsmithing

Pieces title:

Hold me, I’ll care for you

Hold me, while keeping the distance

Hold me, within a lie

Hold me, in this delicate balance

Hold me, even if it hurts