About
I am a visual artist based in London. I was born in Italy in 1976 and have lived in the UK since 2004.
I hold a BA in Fine Art (Painting) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna and a degree in history of art from the University of Bologna; in 2007 I completed an MFA in Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) and subsequently qualified for a PGCE in Art and Design (14-19) at the Institute of Education. I have been working in education since 2007 and have collaborated as free lance educator with various institutions, including the ICA in London, Cubitt Education, Sussex Coast College, Birmingham School of Art and the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.
I regularly exhibit in the UK and abroad; my artwork is represented by Bartha Contemporary in London and I have also shown with The Drawing Works. My drawings have been shortlisted in four editions of the Jerwood Drawing Prize (2010, 2011, 2015, 2017) and in the first edition of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2018), as well as in the Biennale der Zeichnung (Drawing Biennial) at the Kunstverein Eislingen in Germany (2016), and they are featured in the drawing anthology Walk The Line: The Art of Drawing published by Laurence King in 2013.
I make finely detailed geometrical abstract work using a variety of hand-made and digital processes and a diverse range of materials, primarily paper and ink, but also leather, wood, vinyl and paint; however, drawing always underpins my practice across the various media I employ. In my work I aim to translate the experience of tactility into a visual image and I am interested in the haptic quality of geometric patterns; for this reason, drawing by hand is a very important part of my practice. I seek to create a sense of texture through the use of grids and geometric patterns.
I am interested in the relationship between ornament and abstraction and the references of my practice are objects like textiles, tiles, bricks and various other artifacts relating to the domestic sphere, as well as to architecture and the built environment. Therefore the seemingly abstract nature of the work is only partially so, because the patterns I use are thought in relation to physical objects.
The basic structure of my work consists of grids of isosceles right triangles. I arrange, modify and distort their configuration using repetition, rotation, mirroring and other compositional methods that are typical of ornaments. In recent works these triangles have become more and more distorted and organic, but the structure that underpins the drawing is always the grid.
The relationship with the space around it is very important, even though my work tends to be flat and is concerned with surface. I am interested in creating multiple focal points of view in the work and I use this strategy to elicit a tactile and spatial response from the audience.
Scale and viewpoint play an important role in this, and the perception of my work can change significantly depending on the viewer’s proximity and their angle in relation to the surface; these factors are organised around the relationship between the macroscopic forms of the main structure of the work and the micro patterns and their distortion.
My studio work tends to have a small scale which relates to the body in a very intimate way, both in the intensively time-consuming way in which it is made, as well as in the way it is presented; I tend to see my studio work as having a relationship to domestic interiors.
My installation work and permanent commissions for buildings relate to wider architectural spaces and the size of the patterns I use is generally larger to reflect this relationship of scale between the artwork and its support or surroundings. In this type of projects, I approach the site through preliminary research that takes into consideration the context and the physical features of the place; my work can only exist within that framework if it engages in a dialogue with it.
I hold a BA in Fine Art (Painting) from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna and a degree in history of art from the University of Bologna; in 2007 I completed an MFA in Sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) and subsequently qualified for a PGCE in Art and Design (14-19) at the Institute of Education. I have been working in education since 2007 and have collaborated as free lance educator with various institutions, including the ICA in London, Cubitt Education, Sussex Coast College, Birmingham School of Art and the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna.
I regularly exhibit in the UK and abroad; my artwork is represented by Bartha Contemporary in London and I have also shown with The Drawing Works. My drawings have been shortlisted in four editions of the Jerwood Drawing Prize (2010, 2011, 2015, 2017) and in the first edition of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2018), as well as in the Biennale der Zeichnung (Drawing Biennial) at the Kunstverein Eislingen in Germany (2016), and they are featured in the drawing anthology Walk The Line: The Art of Drawing published by Laurence King in 2013.
I make finely detailed geometrical abstract work using a variety of hand-made and digital processes and a diverse range of materials, primarily paper and ink, but also leather, wood, vinyl and paint; however, drawing always underpins my practice across the various media I employ. In my work I aim to translate the experience of tactility into a visual image and I am interested in the haptic quality of geometric patterns; for this reason, drawing by hand is a very important part of my practice. I seek to create a sense of texture through the use of grids and geometric patterns.
I am interested in the relationship between ornament and abstraction and the references of my practice are objects like textiles, tiles, bricks and various other artifacts relating to the domestic sphere, as well as to architecture and the built environment. Therefore the seemingly abstract nature of the work is only partially so, because the patterns I use are thought in relation to physical objects.
The basic structure of my work consists of grids of isosceles right triangles. I arrange, modify and distort their configuration using repetition, rotation, mirroring and other compositional methods that are typical of ornaments. In recent works these triangles have become more and more distorted and organic, but the structure that underpins the drawing is always the grid.
The relationship with the space around it is very important, even though my work tends to be flat and is concerned with surface. I am interested in creating multiple focal points of view in the work and I use this strategy to elicit a tactile and spatial response from the audience.
Scale and viewpoint play an important role in this, and the perception of my work can change significantly depending on the viewer’s proximity and their angle in relation to the surface; these factors are organised around the relationship between the macroscopic forms of the main structure of the work and the micro patterns and their distortion.
My studio work tends to have a small scale which relates to the body in a very intimate way, both in the intensively time-consuming way in which it is made, as well as in the way it is presented; I tend to see my studio work as having a relationship to domestic interiors.
My installation work and permanent commissions for buildings relate to wider architectural spaces and the size of the patterns I use is generally larger to reflect this relationship of scale between the artwork and its support or surroundings. In this type of projects, I approach the site through preliminary research that takes into consideration the context and the physical features of the place; my work can only exist within that framework if it engages in a dialogue with it.