5 minutes with Gioia Ghezzo!
1/ WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PATH AND WHAT WAS THE SPARK THAT LEAD YOU TO ART AND CREATION?
I don't know when exactly, but I remember that the only thing I knew how to do well from an early age was drawing. I scribbled everywhere; on books, on walls, on restaurant placemats, on my legs, I obsessively followed "art attack" (I never missed an episode). During high school the spark for drawing faded, this is because my teachers said that I didn't know how to draw and that I would have achieved nothing in life and unfortunately I had started to believe it. I think the starting point was at university when, finally, after various stages and experiments, I managed to find my place in the world and today I feel I can define myself as an illustrator. At first I drew digitally with a graphics tablet, then I switched to traditional illustration techniques:
from watercolor to my beloved gouaches.
2/ WHICH MEDIUM INSPIRES YOU THE MOST AND WHY?
I like getting lost on Pinterest because it's full of suggestions (for fashion, home, design, crafts, patterns, etc. ), however you always have to be careful not to fall into the trap of unconsciously copying what you've seen. Speaking of more manual things, I like to leaf through magazines and monographs to figure out which way to go.
3/ WHAT ARE YOUR INFLUENCES AND INSPIRATIONS?
I've always loved art. I like to take techniques from various avant-garde movements (for example the lively and unnatural use of color by the Fauves, the typical brushstrokes of the impressionists especially those of Monet, or the soft and buttery shapes by Botero) and try to bring them in my own way to illustrate.
4/ WHAT IS YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS?
If I have to illustrate freely, I don't have a precise creative process, everything starts from my instinct and my surroundings; often, in fact, I represent the lagoon of Venice with its colors and shapes). If a job is commissioned to me, I start from a meticulous (almost obsessive) theoretical research and then move on to the visual suggestions related to the world of art, design, color, shapes and finally I let myself be carried away by my brushes.
5/ HAVE YOU EVER HAD EXPERIENCE IN AN ART GALLERY?
This is my first time exhibiting my illustrations in an art gallery and I find it a great experience and opportunity. Bringing people closer to the world of illustration means letting people know who we are in depth. I think galleries play a fundamental role in giving people an immediate emotional richness that is good for the soul and the spirit.
The works of Gioia Ghezzo on our site
6/ DID YOU ALREADY KNOW EIM ULTIPLI REPRODUCTION (SCREEN PRINTING, RISOGRAPHY, PIGMENT PRINTING) ?
At university I studied graphic design and visual communication and during some workshops I faced and tried to print with these techniques.
I must say that they perfectly match any type of illustration, digital or traditional. At home I have a screen printing frame with which in my free time I enjoy trying and experimenting with colors and prints on all types of support.
7/ WHICH WORK OF ART WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCOMPANY YOU THROUGHOUT YOUR LIFE?
There are many, each can be associated with a phase of my life.
Now I would choose Henry Matisse's joie de vivre.
8/ WHICH EXHIBITION, ARTIST OR WORK OF ART MOVED YOU THE MOST?
Monet's water lily pond. I would spend hours looking at this picture, sometimes I get lost in it.
9/ A PLACE THAT INSPIRES YOU?
The Venice lagoon of course; The silence of the streets, the scent of salt air are among my greatest sources of inspiration.
10/ WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?
Impossible to choose one! I like everybody. it's like asking who do you love more between mom and dad.
11/ MUSIC THAT TRANSPORTS YOU?
Music during my creative process is fundamental; I don't have a defined genre that accompanies me (I go a lot at the moment and by instinct), but you must always be there. I usually need music with a well-defined rhythmic base that allows me to better channel my creative flow.
12/ AN ESSENTIAL BOOK FOR YOUR LIBRARY?
Obviously a book on colors. Michel Pastoureau's little books are beautiful, but for me the Colors series by Giovanna Rinaldi, published by Topipittori, is indispensable.
13/ A FILM THAT MARKED YOU?
In general, Antonioni's films because they show what is often underestimated and yet is fundamental, traditions and customs are and were the building blocks of society. For this reason I have chosen to illustrate the Venice lagoon, which is often underestimated, because without it the city would not exist.
14/ A CHILDHOOD MEMORY?
Lido of Venice. Zone A, hut 419. It was there that I spent the most beautiful summers of my childhood between the beach, diving and fishing for cappe and peoci with my grandparents. I have a thousand memories like this and perhaps these are the ones that ignited a visceral love for the Venice lagoon and the sea.
15/ WHAT IS YOUR MANTRA?
Less is not more. In my illustrations the shapes are generous and buttery; the colors are strong and bold. Then no! Less is not more.
16/ WHAT IS YOUR TYPICAL DAY LIKE?
My typical day is very simple. During the day I work in Venice as a graphic and visual designer (see what a view from the office!), in the afternoon I love taking time out for my illustrations and my works. If I could take a van and travel the world carrying only my brushes with me, I would do it right away.
17/ WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GARANCE & MARION IN THE EVOLUTION OF YOUR CAREER AS AN ARTIST?
I have to thank Garance & Marion so much for choosing me in this experience. Knowing that people have a piece of me and my Venice in their homes fills my heart with happiness. These traveling exhibitions have also opened up many possibilities for me to work on interesting and challenging projects.
18/ WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
I have so many plans for the future (that I can't tell you :) ).
A secret dream is to be able to illustrate another children's book.