Ilaria was born and raised in Ravenna in the Romagna region, an area that has shaped her artistic sensibility since her youth. Her academic training began at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino, where she specialised in sculpture. It was however her move to the Polytechnic University of Valencia that marked a significant turning point in her artistic career. There Ilaria was able to immerse herself in the world of contemporary art, and her career was defined by her passion for casting and working with different materials. After working in various art foundries in Italy and abroad, she honed her skills and developed a special interest in creating patinas for bronze.
His work with the Battaglia Foundation in Milan provided the valuable opportunity to extend her knowledge of patination techniques and to develop new colourings that are still used by the company today. Her passion for archaeology is reflected in his most recent works, which are inspired by classical and symbolic forms, encouraging new thinking around our artistic and cultural heritage. Observation of Ilaria's art reveals a deep interest in sculpture, ancient architecture and archaeology, evident in the details of her works where faces, figures, bone fragments, architectural surfaces and reliefs all emerge. The approach leading to the creation of each sculpture is layered in various processes, each equally crucial to the final work. Ilaria often starts her work by looking afar, exploring distant geographical areas, studying materials to understand their intrinsic properties, while also considering external agents that may influence their characteristics over time. In essence, the concept of "rediscovery" should not only be understood as a desire to reappropriate classical forms or aesthetics, but as part of a broader physical and intellectual process.
Ilaria Cuccagna has taken part in numerous one-woman and group exhibitions locally and abroad. Her exhibitions at the Ramo Gallery located in Como, include: "In The Flesh", 2023, "This is not a curated exhibition III", 2022-2023, "In roads" (Online Exhibition) 2018-2022, "Un tempo lungo", 2022, "VestArt", 2022, "This is not a curated exhibition II", 2021-2022, "Who is Ramo (Project Room #1)", 2021, and "Vestigia del presente", 2019.