Freedom Vertigo n.7 Painting

Originally from southern Italy, Stefano has lived in London for over two decades. Identity, introspection, mindfulness and freedom are recurrent themes in his work as well as a sense of nostalgia for the Mediterranean Sea and its dazzling light. Stefano has produced several collections of paintings, among them ‘Colordive’, ‘Inner Horizon’ and ‘Wandering Heights’. SEPTEMBER 2019 INTERVIEW Paintings with recycled waste material, discover Stefano Pallara #ArtistOfTheWeek by Agathe Guibé "I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex." Oscar Wilde This quote defines in some way Stefano's personality and the reason he started painting years ago. Colourful but nostalgic, Stefano's paintings are his shelter, his "freedom and catharsis". Stefano is originally from the South of Italy but has been living in London for decades now. His work revolves around themes such as the definition of identity, introspection and freedom, merged into landscapes like the Mediterranean Sea and its dazzling light. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and how you started painting? "My name is Stefano and I'm Italian. I grew up in a very traditional family where out-of-the-ordinary behaviour was not allowed. I received a strict upbringing, expressing my creativity wasn't really encouraged, and I was only allowed to play with typical children's games. I wasn't interested in cliché boys' games like football, fighting and plastic guns, because of the sense of violence and competitive nature I perceived in them. Drawing was my way out, a creative space where I could play with whatever I wanted, freeing myself from the constant repression imposed by the world around me. In real life, I was isolated but in my sketchbook, I was never alone. I started drawing animals, flowers, plants, cities and landscapes, queens, witches, wizards, angels... and it never really stopped. Painting became a part of my life, and now as an adult, I find in the creative act the same sense of freedom and catharsis that I discovered as a child." "My childhood was quite dark and it left a black hole inside me. Painting is a language I use to have a dialogue with the loneliness I experienced in those years and to accept it. In the past, I tried to fill that hole in various ways but with no success. Painting allows me to leave that hole as it is but to build a new world all around it.