– Giulia, I would like to start from your origins. You are Sardinian and come from a family of artisans and artists. Tell us who was Giulia as a child and how much your roots continue to influence you.

Hi Claudia, thank you for allowing me to be here. Yes, I’m Sardinian, to be precise Pula, a tourist village on the sea which is located 30 km from Cagliari. I cherish my memories with immense love. I remember my childhood as the most interesting and intense period of my life made up of very strong emotions, places that I love to madness and above all I remember it as a period made up of family. I am an only child, I was a little girl in the clouds they said. I liked listening to the speeches of adults, listening to the stories of the elderly who always told me about when they were little, inventing and building worlds and above all drawing a lot. My cousins ​​lived around me but I also felt the need to be alone with myself doing things that I invented. On this I have changed little. My father made me a lot of toys out of cork (he worked cork and smelled like cork). He built my first desk. I spent countless hours drawing on that desk. I still keep it jealously and I have never had the courage to give it to anyone even now that I am grown up. I am very attached to the little girl I was, to the little girl I have inside, and I try how I can to take care of it by remembering the things that made me feel good as a child. Taking care of the purest part of me (when I can) helps me feel good as an adult. Working with art is a way of cultivating purity, enthusiasm, curiosity, play, all characteristics very present in children that somehow help you not to lose that vital “spark”. Consequently, I am absolutely influenced by everything that brings me back to childhood. My land, my traditions and the aesthetic sensitivity that has been handed down to me thanks to my family’s business are certainly always very present in everything I do. I am very lucky to love my childhood memories. Unfortunately, this is not the case for everyone.

-Today, alive with your art, can we say that you have made your dream come true?

Only partially. I’m just at the beginning! Assuming that my dreams and projects increase with time and welcome, I can certainly say that getting here was not easy when I think of myself as a teenager. When you come from a small town, it is difficult to pursue your dream when it is an “unconventional” dream because it is easy for everyone to row against you. Because everyone is afraid, they have no experience about it and they advise you based on what they know (most of the time these are commonplaces). Emotionally it is not easy if you are a sensitive teenager, it takes a lot of determination. I thank my family for their support… without them I would never have succeeded. They may not always understand me, but supported yes. What I have achieved to date is certainly an important milestone. However small it is, I consider it MY precious goal that allows me to live doing what I love (with all the enormous difficulties of the case since we live in a difficult historical period but we know that it is so for everyone). But every day I always take a step further and this shows me that it works and is constantly growing. I am very happy with this and it helps me to move forward.

– You are an eclectic artist, you like to create but also to make your ‘world’ available to share art and beauty. Is this the spirit of your ‘Artist’s House?’

Absolutely yes, the spirit is this. Everyone with their own skills and contributions can work to make the world a better place; to fight all this ugliness and sadness that surrounds us by keeping our eyes focused only on beauty. I believe in the power of sharing because when multiple creative minds come together because they are in tune, they can generate a strong positive energy that makes souls vibrate. It’s wonderful. This energy nourishes and enriches the spirit. Through the art events that I organize in the Casetta, you can get in touch with the most varied eclectic minds and unexpected very interesting situations can arise.

– Bologna has adopted you a few years ago. What stimulates you about this city and how much of your artistic evolution can you attribute to the place where you live?

I have been living in this city since the end of 2006. I moved here to attend the Academy of Fine Arts where I studied visual arts – painting, and specialized in applied arts – illustration for publishing. The Academy was very useful for my training, which then, once I finished my studies, continued to evolve independently because of course it never stops. It is a city very open to art, to illustration. It is also officially considered the city of comics. It is full of activities and courses of all kinds so perfect for those who want to learn. I can say that I owe a lot to this city, especially because it gives you the freedom to express whatever you want to do, allowing you to find a suitable place to feel appreciated. This is very important.

– We have seen in your works beautiful portraits of women who appear, however, as many icons of ‘normality’. Tell us what your portrait of a woman expresses? How did you come to want to take pictures of women?

There are several recurring themes in my painting such as animals and elements of nature but I must say that lately women are the most present. I am in love with my being a woman, I love femininity. I imagine the women I design as free and independent women, with a strong personality and character. They are women with a powerful and graceful femininity; elegant and refined, ambitious women, in love with life, with the joy of small things and accomplices among them. I like to think of them this way. I would like women in real life to become more aware of themselves and their power in general, especially that of choice in a society that unfortunately is not yet equal; that they recognize themselves first, the right to happiness, to personal fulfillment whatever it may be, and that they unite with courage to achieve common goals. I like the idea that in real life women can be reflected in my drawings where I inevitably am present too … maybe this is a way to feel closer and stronger.

– Do you know that myclah.com is a portal where, among other things, Made in Italy fashion and design are sold. Our ritual question: what relationship do you have with fashion? What would you never give up in your wardrobe?

I always pay more attention to “handmade” because it is an interest that has been handed down to me by my family. I love objects that tell stories.

But not only.

I like to express my personality also through what I wear, indeed I believe that clothing is a fun opportunity to do it and have fun. Personally, I create my own style by seeking harmony between different garments and the balance between them and my mood. I think if you have good taste, you don’t need to spend big bucks to dress well. Good taste is valid for everything and you need to know how to value yourself. I select and buy clothes everywhere, from the expensive shop to the cheap bazaar. But everything must always absolutely reflect my personality. More than a garment, I could never give up an accessory that I also consider an amulet: a traditional Sardinian jewel that somehow represents me and represents my story. That absolutely must not be missing in my outfit, even if it is apparently hidden

– The year is about to end. Giulia what projects do you have for 2021?

I have several plans for 2021.

I had an assignment from an important fashion brand, and our collaboration will come out in 2021. I also had the assignment to illustrate the cover of a book by a very important writer and this too will be released in the new year. I am calmly designing a small clothing line all illustrated by myself. It was one of my many wishes. I am working on several projects with companies and also with personal ones but in any case I am always constantly looking for new artistic collaborations. Welcome!

But I want to unveil a very important scoop for me that I have not yet publicly announced: La Casetta dell’Artista, or my Home-Studio, will grow and evolve as a project including some news, until it has a new, bigger location, always. in the historic center of Bologna. So my painting studio will move inside a house that I am temporarily renovating to my taste, a house that retains the retro flavor, in my much loved Liberty style of a historic building from the end of the 19th century. Soon I will be happy to show you some preview in my instagram profile la_casetta_dellartista therefore…. stay absolutely connected!

Photo credit: Maria Simonova

The look inspired by Giulia