I'm
very excited about today's artist. I've admired Nicoletta's
work for so long. It's been so long I actually cannot remember
where I first saw it, it's just captivating.
Sometimes
when I give my feelings on an Artists work I worry in case I've 'got
it all wrong' and it is completely different than the Artist
intended, but Art is meant to be subjective, in the eye of the
beholder, isn't it?
Nicoletta
was born and still lives in one of the world's oldest republics in the world, San
Marino which is surrounded by Northern Italy. I thought I would
share a picture of San Marino, such a beautiful place, lots of
original Architecture - I would love to go there as I would Northern
Italy (well all of Italy to be fair).
Back to Nicoletta and her work. Nicoletta studied animation at the Institute of Art in the Palace of Urbino. She quotes the place as being an inspiration to her, it was built around the 16th Century and seems like time has almost stood still. There were paintings there from one of her favourite artists Pierro Della Francesca who was an Italian Painter from the early Renaissance. Other inspirations include the many children's books she'd read. Since then Nicoletta has illustrated many books and some of her work has been made into an Artbook called Beautiful Nightmares.
Nicoletta's work is very dreamlike and surreal, the type of description you can imagine hearing someone say preceded by 'I had the strangest dreams last night'. Her work is very personal, she puts a lot of feeling into the images whatever that feeling maybe, whether it's fear, beauty, sweetness or cruelty, Nicoletta doesn't shy away from that.
I think that's what draws me in, is the fact that sometimes the subject matter is dark but the figures etc are often very pretty and sweet. Sometimes a sugar sweetness with what sometimes appears to be a sadistic feel, like you never know if these girls will hurt the subject matter in the images with them. For example the picture above and the one below of the girls with the broken Gingerbread man. They're eating parts of him while he appears to be crying.
You
know the feeling kind of reminds me of Imelda Staunton's character
Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter, outwardly everything is pink,
fluffy and sweet but the underlying nature was pleasure from cruelty,
power and unpredictability all sugar coated.
Here
are a few more of Nicoletta's images: some with an air of sweet
freakishness or a hint of sensuality. But all of them appear to have
a story attached.
I read a great description while researching
Nicoletta as soon as I read it I instantly thought 'Yes! that's it'
It was on Beautifulbizarre.net and written by I believe Miu
Vermillion they were reviewing Nicoletta's work and said that they felt
that each picture is almost like a frozen frame of an animation
film.....perfect description!
Nicoletta
has had her work in Galleries in various exhibitions across America
as well as in Italy and Germany and she has won awards for her work,
which is completely understandable.
So
let's meet the talented lady herself...
My
name is Nicoletta Ceccoli, I am 43 years old. I am from the
republic of San Marino.
Tell
us about your art now and what you do
For
many years I worked as freelance illustrator, now I am dedicating to
my personal art only. In my pictures I play with contradictions. My
creations looks both enticing and scary.
I
think it is important to give a face to our fears. Not hiding the
dark aspects of life. My dark and sometimes macabre fictions
exude a cuteness that is distinctly feminine while avoiding overt
sentimentality. A scene may portray a struggle, a fight or
blood but it is presented in a seductively shiny surface ,and my
characters looks adorable even if they are 'freaks'. I always
offer a delectable mix of repulsive and attractive in my images. The
characters in my pictures are a kind of my alter
ego. they tell stories that are very tied to me. Painting
is a way to exorcize my ghosts using irony.
What
is your earliest creative memory?
As
a child I spent lot of time by my father's laboratory creating
objects and toys in wood, he inspired me and the love for nature and
for creating things with my own hands as he is a wood
craftsman.
My
mother was always surrounded with beautiful picture books instead.
Books make me wonder about other lives, they inspired me to invent my
own other worlds. I dedicated several years to illustration for
children's books. Only in the last years I have left
illustration to dedicate to my personal art. But I
never felt ready to abandon childhood for the adult world yet. (I
don't blame you!)
What
is your favourite medium
I
love both traditional acrylics on paper and digital,sometimes I love
to mix the both
Do
you ever suffer from a creative block and if so how do you get
yourself out of it?
I
am a very anxious person, in the last years I feel a bit the pressure
of the expectations when I am preparing a new show. so I am afraid to
do wrong. Then I try to remember that to be creative means to
make errors only by following the usual paths you don’t make
mistakes.
Who
inspires you?
Everything
I see and experience nurtures my inspiration: poetry, paintings,
literature, fairy tales. I am inspired by mythology for the
irrepressible imagination and metamorphosis between creatures of the
world and the humanization of all things.
From
the first idea comes a process of 'obsession' that last weeks, I try
several sketch and the initial intuition takes form, the idea is
enriched with conscious elements that I feel are connected with the
initial concept that is spontaneous, unconscious
What
is your favourite piece of work that you've created?
It
changes from time to time, now I would say ’Contrary Mary’. This
work shows a princess, her skirt is hiding a dangerous dragon. It
shows her power, her will for independence and need for protect from
the outside world. In an ironic way..
What
are your creative ambitions for the future?
To
always feel a sincere inner need to express myself through art. Not
to end up to repeat myself wearily.
How
do you silence your inner critic ?
I
can’t. He bites me hard every day.
What
do you do when you're not being creative?
I
go to the sea for a swim or a walk. My studio is full of weird broken
toys that I found near the seashore (in winter) in a special place
were they gather. They are castaway objects, like fragments of
forgotten memories, that are touching to me .
Tell
us where we can find your work and your social media sites.
And
finally....What would be your 3 desert island craft/art items
Pencils,
charcoal .
To draw like
primitives did with graffiti in caves and over rocks. I really love
nature, exploring caves. Living a bit like a primitive attracts
me.. maybe because of the many hours spent in my room with paintings
I feel like I am gasping for air sometimes..However I feel I need the
intimacy and silence of my studio to create..
It's been an honour to feature Nicoletta's work. I feel there is so much more to find out about her and her dreamlike work. I'd like to share my favourite piece of Nicoletta's but I genuinely cannot pick a favourite, but I will share one I do love before I go.. it's one of the Beauties and Beasts, it's a beautiful piece with a whimsical feel.
I hope you've enjoyed Nicoletta's work as much as I have reviewing and researching it, follow her on Facebook and visit her website, her work is fascinating.
A big thank you to Nicoletta for taking the time to answer my questions. I appreciate it and good luck for everything you do in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment