Interview: Beatrice Bogoni
Beatrice Bogoni is a young freelance artist living in North Italy. She’s been active on the Net since around 2013; meanwhile she has also been able to exhibit her work in physical form many times. Her creations are based on her own self, and her perception of life, but look like characters from fantasy movies. Her portfolio can be found at: beatricebogoni.com and she is running an Etsy shop,as well (https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeatriceBogoni?section_id=16768776&ref=shopsection_leftnav_1).
I had the chance to chat with her and ask her about her creative process, her inspirations, her creatures and her style.
1. Hi, welcome on Teen Art Out! I hope you’re having a nice day.
Let’s start from the most obvious questions: when did you decide (or understand) that art would be your main passion?
Hi! Honestly, there hasn’t been a precise moment in which I took this decision. I’ve been drawing since I got to know how to hold a felt-tip, and everything happened naturally. In some ways, I’m still that little kid who prefers to stay in the classroom drawing, instead of going out to play with the other kids. That’s how it went, and it couldn’t have been differently! I consider myself to be a fatalist, maybe that’s because I like what I do.
- Have you always received support, or have there been stalemate moments?
I’ve always received total support from my parents, and for that I am grateful. My grandad (my father’s father, Gino Bogoni), whom I sadly didn’t have the chance to meet, was a great artist; surely this legacy, both genetically and spiritually speaking, had something to do with this.
3. What are the good sides of being a freelance artist in Italy?
I generally receive requests from private parties; the bright sides of this kind of dynamic is the sense of novelty and freshness of every single commission or project. You never know what’s waiting for you in the next challenge, and the fact that I communicate directly with the customers, different each time and for new work, pushes you to give your best. I care a lot about the total and full satisfaction of my buyers: I give them a part of me, and it’s fundamental and essential to know that it’ll be in good hands.
4. On the contrary, which are the bad sides? Would you like to move in some other Country, or would you rather stay in your current production location (Treviso)?
As far as the downside is concerned, I think it might be the lack of a sure and concrete continuity. It’s necessary to self-promote as much as you can in order to make your public bigger, and to raise the possibility of a gain. Everything is quite “volatile” , the sensation of certainty, of an actual paycheck with a sure income. Obviously, this affects the possibility to plan your own future and in some ways even your present; and often it becomes necessary to have a side “normal” job. Anyhow, my current intent is to create a good base starting from my territory, but I do not exclude that I won’t move in the future.
5. What’s the creation you’re most proud of? Why?
Generally speaking, the last piece I make is my favourite one, up until a new one is created. I have to admit, though, that I feel a “special connection” to my “Bestie”. They have within them something that no other painting or drawing has.
6. Other than a good online support, you also presented your illustrations (a list has been published on @beatricebogoni.com/about/) at various exhibitions. How is that kind of experience?
Moving. My first personal exposition, held last December, has probably been one of the most formative experiences I’ve ever had. When you show your creations to a public, be it virtual one or a physical one, you’re jumping into a void: your drawings aren’t strictly “yours” any more, but they’ll inevitably be charged with lots of external and strangers’ feelings and thoughts; you wish you could protect them and you wish them the best, just like with children that are leaving the house. A situation you can’t really control. You hope you’ve given them enough strength in order for them to make it on their own, out there in the world.
7. Your sources of inspiration seem to be various, coming from very different places and characterized by many styles: which ones?
My only conscious source of inspiration is me, my inner world. Clearly, just like everybody else, I am influenced by the world around me; but if I have to think about the moment when I sit in front of a blank paper to create something new, my concentration goes fully to the “things” that are living inside of me. To me, drawing is exactly this: giving a “body” to something abstract, otherwise visible only to me.
8. Your “Bestie” are a project that integrates a written explaination to the images: each creature has its own characteristics. How are they born, generally speaking?
My “Bestie” (lit. translation “beasts”) exist already, somewhere. Their translation on paper is for me a very instinctive process, very intuitive, something deep and intimate. The practical phase happens fast: the blank paper doesn’t need drafts or guide lines, I like to throw myself on that piece of paper, which I know will soon become the final painting. The liquid forms and the colours that become reality: I feel them alive, and I am the vehicle, the instrument serving them, thanks to which they can manifest themselves. Once the image has been created, I simply “listen” to its name, putting various sounds which I am hearing, together (or, better, the sensation of a sound), in the best way I can. Lastly, only recently I’ve started to add a little story for each one of these creatures, given to me from them the same they give me their names. The story of the first Bestie, which have been created in December 2013, is still a mystery.
9. The “Ectoplasma” series is a collaboration with Pierluca Luccarelli. How was this idea born?
Me and Pierluca (whom I call “little flower”) are similar spirits, other than friends. He contacted me a while ago, and I fell madly in love with his photographs. It’s rare of me to be fully involved in this kind of art, but his images are ethereal, amazing. The wish to do something together was born spontaneously. “Ectoplasma” it’s a mysterious form, “substance of unknown nature”, just like the black stains I paint on Pierluca’s photos. We’ve just started, many more images have yet to be unveiled! I am enthusiast and honoured to be able to collaborate with such pure and clean talent.
10. If you could with any person, past or present, who would you choose?
My answer is spontaneous: my grandfather. Who knows, maybe we couldn’t have stood each other. But I am sure he would have understood me very well. To tell the truth, I have the feeling that in some occasions he’s taking active part in my drawings. Some forms, some lines, look like his blueprint. For that I thank him: in his own way, he’s with me.
11. Thank you for your time! Have a good day.
Thank you, it’s been a pleasure.
Interview by Michela Sereni
