How and why did you start your artistic career?

My artistic career began the day I decided to enroll in the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice. Before that I was painting solely in my spare time since I had a different career path based more on the security of having a job rather than on my artistic inclination. There was no bigger mistake. There came a time when I felt the need to listen to myself and start doing what I always wanted to do. Two years ago, shortly after I graduated, I opened my studio in Mestre, the city where I live.

How did you discover your medium and why did you choose it?

I have always wanted to paint with oil paints like the great masters of the past. Once I tried them, I never abandoned them: the versatility and brilliance they have allow me greater freedom of expression.

Can you talk about your creative process? How does your work come about? How long does it take? When do you know it is finished?

I fund images and drawings by altering the texture of reality in order to create unreal, dystopian scenarios. It is a very instinctive and unconscious process. I start by choosing from an archive of photographs taken during my travels or in my everyday life, frames of film films that have particularly impressed me, and sometimes images found on the web.
This first stage is generally the one that takes me the most time: if I am clear about what I want to achieve, I can paint a work in a few days but this is not always the case. One of the most important issues for me is the choice of color because it reflects the intention of what I want to communicate. Often my paintings are deliberately monochromatic to emphasize a certain mood.

Who are your favorite artists? Which ones are you inspired by?

If we talk about painters the ones who have always fascinated me are Peter Doig for the magical atmospheres he creates, Hurvin Anderson for the freshness and themes he deals with inspired by nature and the concept of double consciousness, Kay Donachie for his use of color, and David Hockney in general for his approach to painting.
Actually what I really draw inspiration from are books and old black and white films.
For the project I am pursuing at this time important have been readings of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Richard Powers’ The Whisper of the World, Sapiens. From Animals to Gods by Yuval Noah Harari, and especially Davi Kopenawa’s The Fall of Heaven, which made me relive the atmosphere of my trip to the Colombian forest.

THE ARTIST

Name: Francesca Miotto
Profession: Painter

FEATURED WORKS