At the beginning of this year, I was offered the opportunity to spend a month this summer at an art residency by Lake Como in Italy. My goal was to step outside my hometown, where I usually create my pieces, and seek inspiration from a different environment. After being here for a little over a week, I had the chance to showcase some of my work at an art event in the town of Dongo on July 23rd.
A Personal Letter
In the heart of Dongo, a town on the upper side of Lake Como, I had the chance to exhibit a collection of my watercolor pieces, including my recent series created here.
My recent series "Breeze", is inspired by the atmosphere of the lake. When I arrived a week ago, I was struck by the vastness of the mountains surrounding the lake. I described it to a friend as feeling like an isolated area where you can't see what's beyond. The people's lifestyle seemed to have a different rhythm, not disturbed by what happens outside the lake. The sound and feel of the water were soothing and relaxing, maybe because I've also adapted to the slow life here, a contrast to the busy months in my hometown
This time has been a pause from the rush of my life, a break from my surroundings, family, and friends, allowing me to learn how to be on my own. I've noticed that this place holds a rich history that I know very little about, yet I'm intrigued to learn from the resources, literature, and stories of the people in this small town, which seems filled with endless fairy tales. Realizing that this area is just a fraction of Italy, of the globe, opens my horizons in a way that lets me think more about my life than I initially expected here.
I've never been a fan of explaining my life in words; the vocabularies feel limited, but my brushstrokes have infinite possibilities. Painting is for me a universal language to transcribe my abstract thoughts into physical concepts.
But if I had to summarize my work in words, I'd say that you're seeing a part of yourself. At the end of the day, I don't know you, or anyone really. It's impossible to, that's why you don't recognize any particular person in these pieces. I paint relying on my senses, what I see, what I smell, what I listen to, and what I hear. I can't read minds, relive someone else's life, or understand how the world functions outside my body. Yet i'm opening up in a way that lets you in, hoping that I can inspire one of your senses for your own. Which is the visual art.
This experience feels like the beginning of my career as a young artist. You are reading the first chapter of my life. But no, not even that, more like the prologue of what will become my life's work.
