Gianna Toenz

"Through painting, I explore the narrative power of objects. I am fascinated by the traces of what we use, accumulate, or forget. Each composition becomes a portrait — a silent story of our everyday life."

Technique and Visual Approach

I love using acrylics for their immediacy and for the possibility of applying color in a textured and vibrant way. I often leave the paint abundant, almost corporeal, because I believe that in this way the image gains a more tangible, physical presence — just like the reality it represents.
I am interested in the play of balance: the way objects occupy space and interact with one another, approaching, distancing, and counterbalancing each other.
I pay great attention to color relationships, as color, for me, holds a power capable of giving intensity and presence to objects without the need to push them beyond what is real.

The Thought Behind the Image

I paint still lifes composed of ordinary objects; sometimes dirty, used, or forgotten.
I am drawn to things that usually go unnoticed but actually hold many stories within them: medicines, utensils, ripe fruit, packaging, remains. These are objects we use, consume, and live with every day without realizing it.
Sometimes I choose them for what they r...

Born in 1996 and raised in Mesolcina, I attended the Art High School at CSIA in Lugano (Switzerland) and earned a degree in Painting from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan.
I currently live and work in Ticino, where I teach Visual Arts in middle school and continue to develop my artistic research.

2020–21 Spazio Officina, Max Museo - Chiasso, Switzerland
Group exhibition “Le stanze dell’arte. Creazione artistica nelle giovani generazioni”