Can you start by giving us an overview of your practice and what steps you took to become the artist you are today?

Currently, the foundation of my practice lies in the relationship with space, color, and gesture, elements that inherently carry a strong symbolic weight. I primarily use painting in all its forms, but I love working with anything that occupies physical space (installation, drawing, sculpture, textile, printmaking, etc.). My artistic process alternates between phases of conceptualization and phases of physical interaction with the material. I draw inspiration from the reality around me, abstracting it and deriving concepts and aesthetic cues from it.

I like to think that my artistic process is a continuous flow and that each phase is equally important. Observation, study, practice, reasoning, and dialogue accompany me constantly and contribute to the artistic result. My practice is in constant evolution, just as I am, with my life experiences and artistic knowledge.

In your statement, you mentioned that your practice “explores the human condition in contemporary society, depicting the loss of identity within a technological and globalized reality." Can you elaborate on the significance of this statement in your practice and how do you explore it visually?

My figuration develops from urban representations emptied of human beings. Deserted cities transform into sometimes suffocating, rigid compositions that almost resemble multicolored microchips. In other cases, I try to directly represent the libidinal energies that pass through me. The instinctive gestures, when present, are constrained within closed shapes, organized with a system of colors, tones, and contrasts, which itself is created intuitively and without pre-planning.

I believe that this way of painting subtly reflects how our society functions and how we live within it: humans are chaotic beings ordered by a system of institutions, rules, wills and compulsions, living each day trying to achieve harmony with their surroundings. However, with my painting, I do not want to focus on criticism and dissent, which are still fundamental to my work, but rather to portray the romance of human endeavor. In my compositions, rigidity is always broken by the constant imprecision of forms because the mesh of the system always has flaws, and the vital energy of humans always finds its way to expression. In the simple geometric structures of my paintings, I seek complexity through chromatic harmony, and I like to imagine a parallel between the choice and arrangement of colors and the balance of elements in life. In my compositions, I attempt to balance light and darkness, madness and rationality, impulse and reason, passion and coldness, searching for a subjective harmony that restores dignity to the person, bringing their intimate experience to the forefront.

Your artworks express a profound contradiction between harmony sought through color and the overwhelming universe of repressed energies. Can you share a specific piece that holds special significance in this context and the story behind its creation?

One painting that comes to mind is Suq Painting No. 6, where I compress the chromatic energy of a market stall in the textile souk of Tunis into abstract, compressed forms. I painted it in 2023, during my residency at Dar Meso in Tunis. I spent two weeks walking through every corner of the Medina of Tunis, absorbing environmental stimuli and pouring them onto the canvas.

This is one of my favorite paintings because of the powerful autonomy of the color patches, which break away from their meaning and, abandoning their representational power, simply transform into a system of energies as chaotic as it is orderly. This is what I currently seek from painting: the possibility of creating representations connected to reality by the thinnest and most invisible thread, yet transporting its fundamental energies.

What can you tell us about the series “IL VOLO DELL’ALBATROS”? Can you walk us through the creative process behind this series?

Il Volo dell'Albatros stems from the desire to have a subject that could provide me with real references while also allowing space for abstraction. I have always had a synthetic way of thinking, with a tendency to observe the whole over the details. Hence, the idea to imagine and depict cities from a radically vertical perspective. The title of the series, Il Volo dell’Albatros (The Flight of the Albatross), was inspired by the parallel between the solitude of the albatross and that of the artist: both fly high, searching for what they need to live, the former for food, companionship, and shelter, the latter for a detail or concept that can ignite inspiration. However, the adopted viewpoint is actually satellite-based, not that of a bird, representing a small poetic license that I allowed myself.

In terms of the painting process, I proceed as follows: I “travel” on Google Maps until I find interesting shape combinations, then sketch a base structure on paper or canvas with black paint and some shapes (usually a couple of buildings to start the composition), and the rest of the painting develops as I set aside the reference image and give in to my imagination and taste. I can work on a painting for two hours or two months, continually adjusting colors, shapes, and relationships.

You founded a Creative Hub, called “Il Varco srl,” that produces cinema and art exhibitions. Can you delve a bit into the work you do and how it connects with your artistic practice?

Il Varco started as a cultural association during my university years and has transformed over ten years into a creative hub. We deal with production, dissemination, and artistic research, working across contemporary art, photography, cinema, and publishing, with a focus on experimentation and authorship. This company has allowed me to work closely with high-level professionals and deeply understand some dynamics of the art sector. Additionally, collaboration and exchange with artists who use other expressive media have pushed me to develop an interdisciplinary culture. One of the projects closest to my heart is the Prisma Art Prize, an art prize with an exhibition base in Rome, where I serve as the artistic director. Over the years, it has enabled me to forge human and professional relationships with fantastic professionals and artists.

The art world is an ever-evolving being, constantly changing. How do you as a curator, artist, and producer describe the current state of the art world? And how would you advise artists to navigate it?

I think we’re in a historical period where many artists are aesthetically re-elaborating ideas and concepts developed in the past. The art market is expanding, and there is increasing interest in visual languages. Of course, the smartphone, particularly Instagram, plays a role in educating the public about images democratically; on the one hand, it increases the audience of those curious about the communicative potential of images, but on the other, it creates a strong homogenization among creators. The comparison with other artists is constant, and the temptation to imitate what pleases the masses is ever-present. Personally, this has created many emotional difficulties for me, and my advice to anyone entering this field is to follow their own taste and interest, without imitating what is successful and without expecting immediate results from their work. I’d advise turning off Instagram, seeing works live, getting to know older artists, and studying one’s historical context.

In your opinion, how do you categorize art as a catalyst for change, be it at an individual and community level or on a global scale?

I believe that art catalyzes change when it expresses new possibilities of form. I don’t believe in political art. The power of art lies in affirming the possibility of something different existing, and a work is successful if it sparks something new in the viewer, whether it’s a never-felt emotion, an idea, or a new perspective. Art shouldn’t assert, judge, or take sides; it has the potential to create new worlds, and any use of it that isn’t purely creative would be a waste of potential and, in some cases, dangerously propagandistic.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes and aspirations for the future of art, and how do you envision your role within this evolving landscape?

My main hope is to be able to continue creating my art while maintaining independence and autonomy. I don’t have long-term hopes for art itself, but I do hope that in the city I inhabit, Rome, a community interested in contemporary art continues to develop, creating a fertile environment that can contribute something meaningful to the national and international scene.

What message or call to action would you like to leave our readers with?

Go see a good exhibition.

Know more about the artist.

Images:

Il Volo dell'Albatros by Marco Crispano. Image courtesy of Marco Crispano.

Cover and portrait image by Tatiana Ivensen