Interview

Written By Adelé Kotzé

Debora Ferruzzi Caruso

Debora Ferruzzi Caruso was born in Florence, where she lives with her husband and three children. She graduated in Physics in 1996 and since 2002 she has been following Luciano Piseri's watercolor courses. Her work can in the Atlas of Contemporary Art de Agostini 2021, 2023, CAM 2022, 2023, ARTISTI'20, 21, 22, 23. Museum certificates for participation in the Luxenburg Prize 2020-2023. She participated in the Identity Collective in the Grenada Pavilion of the 59th Biennale Art of Venice 2022 curated by Daniele Radini Tedeschi, at the Triennale Exhibition of Visual Art in Rome 2021 and 2023. In the "Narrators of our time" she obtained a video commentary by V.Sgarbi.

 

What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?

“I attended scientific high school where I learned the basics of life drawing, technical drawing and perspective. I continued my studies by graduating in physics, astrophysics specialization. I never stopped drawing, attending my father's graphic studio and from 2002 to 2018 attending watercolor courses with master Luciano Piseri. I then followed whorkshops with famous watercolorists Sonia Garcia, Cesc Farrè and Alvaro Castagnet. In the academic year 2022-23, I attended the school of the annual nude course of the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence.”

What inspires you?

“Everything that generates a strong emotion in me inspires me. I generally start from a photograph taken by me and I don't have a particular subject. I like landscapes, landscapes with figures, portraits, flowers and still lifes. I am particularly attracted to light and shadows. even the naked figure that interacts chromatically with the environment fascinates me a lot.”

What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?

“A message of beauty. I think my greatest aspiration is to make the user exclaim, how beautiful! A feeling of peace and silence where emotions can run free. Being able to convey my emotions to the moment I painted.”

How would you describe your work?

“I would define my work as immediate and fast. Capable of transmitting positive emotions, of beauty and elegance. For me, light is like breathing, the vital breath capable of inducing the observer to bliss, even when light dialogues with darkness, with the shadow that always lurks in every existential experience.”

Which artists influence you most?

“Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Morisot, Van Gogh, Lega, Fattori, Sorolla, Hopper, Castagnet and Lucy Willis.”

“Everything that generates a strong emotion in me inspires me.”

What is your creative process like?

“A watercolor is made with 20 years of technique and 2 hours of creation. I start painting from a detail that attracts my attention, I define it down to the details and then I start adding other parts in order to make it three-dimensional in the emotion it generates not only in the drawing. I abandon myself to spontaneous emotions, I paint in a dream state where time seems to stop, I imagine stories and become a spectator. Sometimes, I play classical music or turn on the television. I don't listen to what they say but my mind seems like a filter capable of influencing my emotions and sometimes an influence is associated with what I hear.”

What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?

“The role of an artist in society is very important because it nourishes people's souls. The message is universal throughout the world. Everyone should be able to express their creativity. Which in the case of painting does not mean knowing how to draw well, but knowing how to be a pure transparent filter of one's emotions in order to reach the observer. As a development, the comparison with artists of all nationalities could be very useful because the dialogue takes place with a common language.”

Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?

“My recent exhibitions include: Exibitions with G. Caneva a Stoccolma, 2023; Parigi presso l’Espace Miromesnil JBF with Platinum Collection, 2023; Triennale di arte visive di Roma, Musei di San Salvatore in Laureo, Roma START, 2023; Il giardino globale, Circolo Belle Arti Casa di Dante, Firenze, 2023; among others. I have many upcoming exhibtions for 2024.”

 
Adelé Kotzé
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