Interview
Fiorella Tosca (LaraJam)
Fiorella, also known as LaraJam, was born in 1978, and currently lives in Rome, Italy. She has a Diploma in master of art - ceramics, from the Paolo Mercuri Art Institute, (RM), and she received her high school diploma in applied art at the same institution, with a near perfect score.
In 2005, Fiorella graduated with a Diploma in Decoration from the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, with a perfect score in her final grade.
Fiorella has participated in several exhibitions, as well as being included in various award ceremonies for her work.
What is your background and how did you start your journey?
“My childhood dream was to be a writer. I read a lot as an escape from the many difficulties I faced in school, and the problems I had socializing. In reality, I never understood that I was able to express myself until I started attending the Institute of Art, specializing in ceramics. While there, I realized that I had my own language. Since then, I’ve developed it, using it as my personal writing style.
My language is made up of color-saturated curves and irrational and instinctive forms. I experiment with the most disparate materials and themes; experimentation that I carried out over the years at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. I was able to explore a whole world of materials. I continued to experiment even after my studies, while doing ‘normal’ jobs to survive. I started using watercolors in unexpected ways. I was never interested in its traditional use as I’ve never felt attraction in the realistic realization of reality.
My desire to express myself and experiment during that period also led to the creation of watercolors, and the creation of very personal colors using pigments for painting and make-up products.
In recent times, also due to the pandemic, I’ve become curious and began experimenting with digital art. I’ve discovered the infinite possibilities given by social media and creative applications. In particular, I’m using a very basic graphics tablet and the Ibis Paint X app — my favorite.”
What inspires you most?
“Music has always been my greatest inspiration. I've always been attracted to it. I love rock but now I'm deepening my listening to classical music. Music must enter and be a part of me. I follow its harmony more than the meaning of the lyrics themselves. After years, I realized that it is not the words but the vibration of the sounds that touch me deeply.
I can’t paint music, but I can paint what it transmits to me at that moment. Everything becomes very instinctive and instantaneous, without second thoughts or further changes. When I feel that the piece is ready, I don’t go back to it later.”
“I enjoy pushing shapes and colors beyond the limits through continuous research, blending, and through the emotions that come from listening to music.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“My message is that of absolute freedom and of being yourself, at least in the creative moment. Being able to create a relief valve from daily routine. This is a modality that I wish would be more common, so that even non-artistic people can experiment in their own way.
My work encourages an acceptance of one’s uniqueness, and a glimmer of expressiveness beyond the ordinary. It invites the viewer to let their colors come out in all their beauty, and to respectfully get rid of the imposed social structures in order to be free.”
How would you describe your work?
“My work is a continuous search to not to be like the others. To let what is not seen on the surface come out…my dark side of the moon.”
Which artists influence you most?
“My work is influenced by a number of artists. Musicians include Pink Floyd, Frederic Chopin, Billie Holiday, Freddie Mercury, and Adam Yauch and the Beastie Boys. Painters who have influenced me include Yves Klein, Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Henry Miller, Marc Chagall, and Hayao Myazaki. I’m also influenced by Erik Satie, Pearl Jam, and of course, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
My artistic evolution through music has gone from the works of Pink Floyd, to the pious offerings of Chopin, to the symphonies and arias of classical music.”
What is your creative process like?
“Sometimes my creative process is inspired by dreams. Other times, it is the things I see around that bring me back to my creativity. Generally, when some music enters my head, I feel the need to create something following what the incident transmits to me. I let myself be guided without a precise plan. I make a sign and choose a color because in that instant, I feel the fire.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist acts as a link between one world and another. They are able to tell and break the mirror of the normal view of the real world.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“One exhibition I’m particularly proud of was when I created works to honor the life and music of Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch of the Beastie Boys, who died in 2012. I got caught up in the feeling of gratitude and love from fans around the world. I have always loved the music, irony, and inventiveness of the hip-hop trio from New York that were the Beastie Boys, and MCA’s death involved me emotionally, along with this wave. I made some works in his memory, two of which were exhibited virtually in 2013 and 2014 for two days in honor of him. In 2019, I had the honor of exhibiting one of these in a collective exhibition at an art gallery here in Rome, in the prestigious street of painters Via Margutta.
Another important artistic event of my life was undoubtedly the personal artistic performance that I made in 2019 during the event of the non-profit association AREF International Onlus, of which I am a board member. The association has been dealing with refugees in Tibet for almost 20 years. The event included photographic exhibitions, and activities for adults and children. I painted what I felt from what was happening around me. I also taught some children. To my great joy, I sold a painting, the collection of which helped raise funds for the association.”
Instagram: @LaraJam78
