Interview
Simona Zampa
Born in 1970, Simona grew up in Milano, Italy. She studied at the Parsons New School and the New York Studio School (NYSS) in New York.
Although she first studied economics at college, Simona later decided to follow her artistic call, and while still working in economics, she registered for evening classes in drawing and painting.
Simona is a self-taught artist who started illustrating children’s books in her spare time. Her favorite illustrations were portraits—a subject that has always been her main interest. Alongside her work as an artist, Simona has completed several illustration projects, including a series of children’s books.
Over time, her work as an artist prevailed over that of illustrator. Nevertheless, she still does illustrations for specific projects from time to time.
Simona is currently participating in the Turps Correspondence Course at the Turps Art School in London.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“My grandmother was a poet. Born in 1905, she was also an amateur painter. It was from her artistic life that I was given the inspiration to become an artist. She died when I was too young to understand her work and her complex personality. But as I grew up, I started reading her poems, letters, and essays on literature. I found several albums of photos taken throughout her life. Basically, I have known her mostly from what she wrote and left behind. With a vast culture spanning Greek poetry to modern literature, connected with many intellectuals, writers and poets of her time, she was also a translator of Spanish poetry into Italian, and a writer of film reviews.
My uncle was also an artist. When I was a child, my father hung one of his paintings next to my bed. It was an articulated wooden dummy against an olive background. It reminded me about De Chirico in some respects. I would fall asleep looking at that slim figure that would become animated in my dreams. I have never stopped painting ever since.
After working in banking for a short time, I decided to change direction. I enrolled in a course modern art at Sotheby's to pursue a career in an auction house, which I thought would be more fit for my personality. I was wrong. My interest was predominantly directed to the creative side of art, and I realized I was not cut for the art business. I quit Sotheby's at the end of the course and became an illustrator full time.”
“When working on portraits, I would first ask people to sit for me, but more recently I’ve realized that I work better if I make a few live sketches or take a photo, and complete the piece later in my studio.
I’ve also painted from photos taken by someone else. I feel quite intrigued by the process of painting from a photo that portrays a person, thus making my personal interpretation of someone else’s interpretation of the sitter.”
What inspires you most?
“I am inspired by people and colors.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“In the same way Socrates conceived the role of the philosopher, I see the artist as a demiurge that helps people understand their true self and listen to their inner spirit. The underlying message of my work is that people's inner world goes way beyond our imagination. We perceive only its surface. By painting a person, we dig into their personality and uncover different facets of their character.”
How would you describe your work?
“My artistic work in the past few years has taken two directions. On one side, I’m interested in painting people and investigating their personalities and state of mind. In this area of my work, I mainly use oil colors to paint portraits on canvas. I like working wet-on-wet to give my works spontaneity.
The portrait I did of my late father was from a photograph taken by my photographer uncle—a beautiful photo of my father in his twenties. He was able to catch his smile, equal parts timid and rebellious. I knew my father as an adult and as an old man in the last years of his life. In my portrait of him, I tried to render my interpretation of his smile, which to me also denoted his delicate and unpredictable nature. In my portraits, I sometimes paint people with whom I have an intimate relationship or who are meaningful to me. Other times however, I’m inspired by someone I have seen for a few minutes or only in photos. More recently, I have been attracted by the circus theme. I am intrigued by the different feelings that circus arouses, from melancholy, to beauty, to hilarity.
Another area of my work that has become increasingly important to me are paper collages. A few years ago, I attended Josef Albers’ course ‘Interaction of Colors’ at the NYSS, with a teacher who studied with one of his students at Yale. The whole course was an epiphany for me, and brought me closer to abstract art. The final exercise of the course was to replicate a painting of our choice with paper collage. I chose a portrait by Elizabeth Peyton and I found the exercise so interesting that after the course ended, paper collages became an integral part of my work.”
Which artists influence you most?
“I admire the work of Richard Diebenkorn, both his figure paintings and aerial works. I like the way he moved from figurative art to abstraction and back to figurativism. His large works have an incredible profoundness, and you can perceive how his vision is rooted in years of observation. His sketchbooks are also a huge source of inspiration.
Another artist that I like is Chantal Joffe. I like her portraits for their strength and spontaneity. When I paint, I often find I have overworked and should have stopped earlier. Chantal instead knows when it's the right moment to stop, so her works are very strong and fresh. They retain all the life and the emotions of her sitters. There is a beautiful flow in her works. Her series of self-portraits reminds me of Francis Bacon, another artist that I admire for his strong touch and his color choices.
Another big influence on my art comes from the work of Henri Matisse, in particular the paper cut-outs of the last years of his life. I remember visiting the Rosary Chapel that he decorated in Venice with my mother when I was a child. I was impressed by the simplicity of his work, the cleanliness of his lines, and the happiness brought by his colors. I like his lightness, his joie de vivre. I also really like the works of the Wiener Werkstatte and the Bauhaus. In particular, I have thoroughly studied the work of Josef Albers and I love the textiles of Anni Albers.
My approach to art is also highly inspired by the ideas that Italian writer Italo Calvino delineated in his ‘Six Memos for the Next Millennium’. Although the essays were primarily referred to literature, his concepts of Lightness, Quickness, Exactitude, Visibility and Multiplicity apply very well to artworks too.”
What is your creative process like?
"I like to observe people and their interactions. I’m also drawn to landscapes from different perspectives. Normally, I take photos of anything that inspires me. Sometimes I also make a few quick sketches. When I paint or make a collage, I never make a drawing underneath. I start with colors and then gradually bring the image into focus. As Matisse used to say referring to his collages, ‘I draw with scissors,’ or in my case, with an O-knife. Cutting directly into color allows me to abolish the conflict between color and line.
My approach to collages is very similar to painting. I start by gluing large chunks of colored papers and add more and more pieces to define the images. Once I realized that the process of cutting paper in different forms allows me to create some unpredictable effects, I became fascinated by the possibilities of paper collage.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“In the past, artists were craftsmen and decorators. They had a ‘bottega’ and were mostly working on commission. Since Impressionism, artists have been liberated. Photographers accomplished many tasks previously given to artists, and the role of artists has now become that of an interpreter of the sentiments of their times. They are expected to express feelings, ideas and beliefs. Concepts and ideas are predominantly important over a realistic representation of things. This is the direction that art will continue to take over the coming years.
Nevertheless, it is important to remember that when dealing with visual art, we must express ourselves visually. Therefore, I still believe in the crucial importance of the prerequisites of visual art, such as the choice of colors and the equilibrium of the composition. A work of art must speak to the public and communicate its content visually, without the need of further explanations, as this would make the artwork a work of philosophy, literature or politics.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I’ve participated in group exhibitions in Europe and abroad, including the Summer Show at Green and Stone in London, and ‘Remembering 9/11’ at The Arts Student League of New York. My upcoming solo exhibition will be on May 14th at Demosmobilia Gallery in Chiasso, Switzerland.”
Instagram: @simonazampa_art
