Interview
Elisa Rossi
Elisa Rossi is an Italian artist based in Los Angeles. She uses different mediums - oil, acrylic, charcoal, pastels - to create expressive artworks that fluctuate between figuration and abstraction. She is represented by Wönzimer Gallery in Los Angeles, ATO gallery in New York, Laguna Art Gallery, Mission Viejo in Orange County, and the following galleries in Milan: Context Art Gallery, Ziggurat Gallery and M.A.D.S. Art Gallery.
Elisa was raised and born in Carpi, Italy, where she received formal classical piano training and art education from the age of 5.
After earning an MA Degree in International Relations in 2010 from L.U.I.S.S. Guido Carli university, Elisa lived in Belgrade, Berlin and Brussels while pursuing a career in public affairs. During those years, she was also cultivating her visceral, ever-present passion for visual arts.
Carl G. Jung’s work ‘The Red Book’ deeply impacted her in approaching this area of research, along with ‘The Soul Code. In search of character and calling’, written by James Hillman.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My name is Elisa Rossi, and I started my journey in the art world when I was a child. Growing up in a small town in Northern Italy, I developed a fascination with painting people, or inner landscapes while still in elementary school. I was lucky to have the chance to learn from local painters and artisans, who introduced me to the use of charcoal, oil paint, and wood.
I later studied art in school, and even though I pursued university studies in a different field, I never stopped learning and researching artists and art. I lived in different countries, and that really helped my art exploration. Living in Belgium, in particular, gave me the opportunity to study local artists, African art and the Flemish painters. I currently live and work in Los Angeles, where I find my home as an artist, and constant inspiration through interactions with other artists and collaborations with local galleries and collectives of art.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“One theme that I often visit is the deeper purpose of creating art. The relationship between the artist’s individuality and the need to dissolve, or at least dilute, their ego to be able to truly connect and expand. Death and rebirth, attraction and repulsion, childhood memories, desire and atonement, melancholia and longing for undefined places or times, are themes that I pursue as well. Zeitgeist imprints, Greek mythology, fairy tales, the integration of opposites and recomposition of the splintered soul are also themes I pursue.”
“I would describe my work as a constant investigation, and as a way of finding purpose and drive. It is highly energetic, visceral and spontaneous, multifaceted and deeply layered.”
What would you say inspires you most?
“My process is very free. I use acrylic, oil paint, charcoal, soft pastels, ink, oil pastels, as well as powders that I make. I mostly paint on paper and canvas. I like to leave a lot of space for improvisation and surprise, even in the selection of mediums and tools. Brushes are okay, but I also use hands, knives, forks, combs, pieces of broken glass, credit cards, stencils, sticks and bottle bottoms. Sometimes, I ask the upcoming shape or figure how it would like to be rendered and I get the answer.”
Which artists influence you most?
“It’s a long list. I’m influenced by Francis Bacon, Picasso, Chagall, Jean Michel Basquiat, Sue Williams, Hilma Af Klint, Carlo Zinelli, James Ensor, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Otto Marseus van Schrieck, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, and Kurt Cobain’s artworks.
Contemporary artists: Emanuele Tozzoli, Dario Tozzoli, Wyatt Mills, Cristina Cequarles, Adrian Ghenie, Elizabeth Glaessner, Rex Van Minnen, Katherina Olschaur, David Lynch.”
What’s your favorite artwork and why?
“One of my favorite artwork, among thousands of others, is Picasso’s ‘Guernica’. Every time I look at it, I perceive a different nuance. I find it a genius example of how an artist can capture a critical moment in history, while keeping himself free of the charge that comes from living through wartime. There is no hint of fear in the painting.
I love how Picasso chose to paint, instead of depicting a fight or shed blood, animals or a wounded child. There are no references to a specific location or time in the painting. It looks like limbs and figures are exploding in a vacuum, within a basement where the light bulb looks like the all-seeing God’s eye.
There are so many paradoxes held together with elegance in the composition. I think ‘Guernica’ irreversibly changed the way we translate stories and emotions into visual arts.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Each artist, in the first place, is deepening self-knowledge while making art. Therefore, by their own consciousness evolution, the artist can critically contribute to help others in their pursuit to self-realization. Also, because the artist’s work is constantly in their subconscious, they gain increased awareness and sensitivity in the course of their paths. At the same time, this development reflects onto the collective subconscious and can possibly mold societal trends and moods, setting the tone for new directions.
An artwork can instantly generate connection between people, beyond the barrier of language, background, cultural affiliation and so on. The artist has the power and responsibility to trigger change into one person’s mind and touch a person’s heart in a sudden, irreversible way. This can lead to an opening, and to increased receptivity in terms of compassion, understanding of other people and communities around them, societal challenges and a need for change. Art doesn’t give the option to look the other way. Even if one chooses to look the other way, they will never forget that new imprint.”
“The artist’s role in society is to be a messenger of truth, and an unapologetic vessel of the authentic meaning of being a human.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“2021:
‘Women In Art 2021’ online group show, Las Laguna Art Gallery, Orange County.
‘Art For Art's Sake' online group show, London. You can view it here.
‘Translucent Souls’ online group show, curated by ArtMumsUnited, juried by Ekaterina Popova.
‘Ultra-Local' group show, Van Der Plaas Gallery, NYC.
‘Coming Out' group show, M.A.D.S. Art Gallery, Milan, Italy.
‘Every Woman Biennial’ online group show, SuperchiefNFT, NYC. You can view it here.
‘Salon De Imperfectionism’ group show, Wönzimer Gallery, Los Angeles. You can view it here.
Group show, Laguna Art Gallery, Mission Viejo, Orange County. You can view it here.
‘Children 2021' online international art exhibition, Biafarin, selected artwork 'Indigo Children' You can view it here.
2020:
‘Frieze Satellite Project’ group art show, Wönzimer Gallery.
2019:
SuperFineArt Fair, Los Angeles. Represented by ATO Gallery.
Innerspace group art show, Los Angeles.
‘DMA’ group art show, Wönzimer Gallery.
Solo art show, Wönzimer Gallery.
Artworks from collection ‘MAGMA' displayed at the virtual exhibition Art of Tech, part of Art Basel Miami 2019. Representation offered by ATO Gallery.
My awards & features include:
2021:
Selected works published in ‘The Great International Yearbook Of Contemporary Art 2021’, Art Anthology, Madrid Edition 2022 curated by Guto Ajayu Culture.
First Prize winner ‘Art As Response to Mental Health 2021’ contest, Doncaster Art Fair , with the artwork ‘I formulate infinity and store it somewhere deep inside of me’. You can view it here.
Premio Dante Alighieri 2021, Cultura Identità.
Featured work in the ‘New This Week Collection’, Saatchi Art, You can view it here.”
2020:
Copelouzos Family Art Museum Permanent Collection: selected artwork, as part of the ‘35x35’ art project 2020, to be part of the Copelouzos Permanent Private Collection in Athens, 2020. The artwork was exhibited at the Copelouzos art museum as part of a group show hosted in January 2021 in Athens.
Selected artwork as part of Biennale contest for emerging artists curated by Precious Magazine HK. Featured in Vol. 81, 2020.
Website: www.elisarossiart.com
Instagram: @ella_blisss
