Francesca Alaimo is an Italian-British artist based in London. She is a self-taught mixed media artist who creates interventions on paper through manipulation and transformation of materials and images, using prints, water-based oils, acrylics and wax. Her work is an exploration of identity, vulnerability, courage and of the inner self that we so desperately want people to see and accept. Her subjects reveal their truth and dare you to look, challenging you to feel and want the essence of what IS instead of what appears to be. They have accepted that they are not meant to fit in but to stand out, and provocatively reveal the emotional layers of their struggles to anyone who dares to look more closely.
Self-taught or art school?
I am an Italian self-taught mixed media artist based in London.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
A jungle painting by Rousseau.
How would you describe your style?
Figurative intervention, manipulation and transformation of materials and images.
Can you tell us about your artistic process?
I take a photograph of my subject, digitally transform and adapt it, print it and then work on it with water-based oils, acrylics and wax. When I take the first photographs I often have just a feeling of what I want to express and as I choose one shot and digitally transform it, my feelings turn into specific ideas. However, when I start painting and work on it those ideas can change and become a completely new one. It’s a very fluid process and my approach needs to be always flexible.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
I work at home, part of which I have adapted as a studio. Because of the nature of my work I need to paint on the floor and in a space full of daylight.
Is narrative important within your work?
I believe it is. My work is always about a specific narrative that I want to communicate to the viewer. However, it is not paramount to me what narrative the viewer elaborates. I believe art is a form of communication that transcends its subject matter, a meta-communication.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
Henry Rousseau. His evocative jungles feel like a human mind, so rich, mysterious and labyrinthine.
Caravaggio. He was bold and painted in a way no other artist would have dared to.
Hopper. The melancholic light he depicts in most of his works reminds me of 1930-60 American kinds of literature that I love.
German Arrubla. All his work is emotionally and politically devastatingly deep.
What or who inspires your art?
I was born in Rome so part of my cultural-artistic background lies with the Old Masters and other European baroque artists. However, my art is experimental and draws its inspiration from my inner thoughts and feelings around identity, vulnerability, wholeness, self-acceptance and existentialism.
Do you have any studio rituals?
I always wear the same painting clothes and listen to the same music mix.
What are you working on currently?
On a project that investigates the relationship between theatre, illusion, identity and gender.
Where can we buy your art?
Get in touch with me on Instagram @francescaalaimoartist or via my website www.francescaalaimoartist.com