Inspired by the contrast between the intricate natural world and areas of sparseness during her trips to Iceland, this Italian designer creates detailed works formed from a patchwork of sources and textures.
Talk us through your process.
My work is extremely detailed but yet abstract. I dissect what I see first, then reassemble it in an illustration. I always start with quite a lot of visual research, where I gather everything that comes into my mind once I've read the brief. Very often images are not related at all to the content I'm working on but there's something about them, maybe the texture or the colours, that is somehow connected to it. Once I’ve finished my research I start cutting out details from the images and combining them together on a white canvas. Then, after quite a lot of printing tests and cups of tea, I find an images starts sharpening in the white surface.
How would you describe your style?
I enjoy visual complexity, but also tidiness. I like to play with sharp edges and obsessively detailed patterns. I feel like the white space around my illustrations gift them with still simplicity, making the complicated patterns more accessible to the viewer. In a way, I guess what I'm trying to do in my illustrations is capture something like a movement, a mood, or a moment. My surroundings and my experiences while designing, in particular sounds, are definitely affect my work.
What inspires you?
I keep gathering visuals I like. I'm particularly intrigued when images belong to a specific field of expertise, with its own visual language and rules. I love to gather maps for example, as well as instructions, scientific papers, fabrics, wrapping papers, stamps and so on. I often travel trough my collection to re-connect to a certain memory or a holiday of mine – the story and the place behind each item is what fascinates me the most. Certainly experiences are my main source of inspirations, mainly from stories from people, place I've visited, flavours, scents, and unexpected scenarios where you can loose yourself in while traveling.
Which recent project have you found particularly challenging and why?
I'm currently working on the graphic and exhibition design for Le Immagini della Fantasia 32, an international exhibition of children's iIllustration, based in Sàrmede, Italy. It is definitely challenging to keep up with all the deadlines and work flow along with my own projects, though certainly interesting for my professional growth. In general, I take every brief very seriously as I think every project has its own obstacles. The posters for 739a Sagra dei Osei for example were very time-consuming, largely because there were my first figurative illustrations. The six images I created for City Vision Magazine were quite difficult to develop as well since the text that inspired them was extremely open for interpretation. In addition, I’ve recently started working on a solo exhibition for Bruno Bookshop in Venice and I realised that I actually struggle the most when I work to my own briefs. It’s a challenge deciding what to say, not just how to say it.
How have your travels to Iceland influenced your work?
The landscape had a major influence on my way of reading things. The light in Iceland, and the way it interacts with the various types of water, really inspired me. While observing the landscape I've discovered my need to deconstruct its complexity to fully experience it. Also observing complexity right next to nothingness, which often in Iceland corresponds to the absence of any human traces, made it clear to me how vital white space is to the success of an image.
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