Interview to the artist by Rachelle Gryn Brettler, from our Anniversary Book
I usually do not look for new ideas but they come to me in a natural way - I may see something and I have a brainwave, other times it happens when I take a blank sheet and a pencil and I start drawing shapes. I draw shapes I am familiar with and I explore them in a thousand different ways until I find a new idea I fall in love with. I can find inspiration in almost everything around me: pictures and objects, words and sounds. Living outside Bologna, I am lucky to be surrounded by nature. It is very verdant, with sunflower and wheat fields – I try to capture the fluid movements of the wheat crops in the wind. All this is a major inspiration source to me –the organic shapes you can see in my works start there.
My work always starts from a blank sheet. I draw the shape I have taken inspiration from and then I try to bring it back to its essential form and I feature it in different ways so as to recreate the feeling I originally had. When I am inspired by something I did not see but felt, I let my feelings guide my hands and my movements follow my head and heart.
I need my work to be original and unique. If I have a specific commission I need to readjust it to be coherent with my style and different to anything I have done before. Creating for myself, it is more of an organic process – following what I feel and trying new shapes and challenging myself.
The paper I use is a white watercolour paper made of 100% cotton which is perfectly absorbent and retains its nature unaltered even if scratched. It is very thick making it ideal to be sculpted with my technique. My tools are scalpels. I need several as they must be sharp and clean and different blades as each blade shape gives a variety of carves. There is a simplicity to my work – just a single sheet of paper that I sculpt to create movement and three dimensions and when the light shines through it, it changes everything - creating shadows and new forms.
I mostly work with white - I always start there as it is my trademark. I often add gold leaf to embellish and highlight the details and enrich the whole work. I love to use brilliant and shiny pigments such as gold and copper colours. I have lately been experimenting with delicate watercolours – in a palette from nature - shades of blue, green and grey.
Throughout the process of making a work, I experience an array of feelings. Finally, when I realise my aim, I feel calm and pure joy as I complete the work.
I was born and raised in Goiânia, Brazil. Since young, I was always creative and liked to work with my hands. I studied Visual Arts and then Architecture. I have tried different paths including architecture, interior design, drawing and baking. When I arrived in Bologna, at an art centre I experimented with sculpting paper, inspired by someone who worked with leather. This for me was the turning point - discovering my material and technique – a place for my creativity that I have been searching for since I was a little girl.