Armed with Scraps, Lydia Ricci Builds a World of Messy Miniatures

For Lydia Ricci, materials like a broken pencil, obsolete paperwork, long-settled bills, and worn pieces of fabric serve as essential components for her intricate, small-scale creations. The artist attributes her passion for scrap-based artistry to her parents’ fervent collecting habits.

“My mother, an immigrant from Ukraine, had an incredible knack for improvisation whenever we faced resource shortages—which was often. Meanwhile, my Italian father has a tendency to keep everything, convinced that it might come in handy or that he might someday fix it,” she shares.

Currently, Ricci assembles a variety of items collected over three decades, including materials that many other artists would discard. Everyday objects such as cardboard, candy wrappers, and vintage glasses are transformed into surreal miniatures that she describes as “reflections of human anticipation, grievance, and contemplation. I find inspiration in fleeting, unscripted moments—ordinary yet profoundly human.”

Her sculptures are both detailed and whimsical, maintaining a raw, chaotic aesthetic that showcases the uniqueness of each original material. Instead of concealing imperfections and signs of usage, Ricci embraces the traces of disorder that convey a genuine aspect of contemporary existence.

Explore more of the artist’s work on Instagram.