Artist’s Biography
Italian born, Rosso lives and works in London since 2004. She holds a MA in International Communications and Human Rights and worked in advertising before changing her career direction to the visual arts. Primarily a self-taught artist, Rosso has been selected as a 2021 finalist in the renown “Beautiful Bizarre Art Prize” international competition. Previously, she won the “Jackson Open Painting Prize 2019 (JOPP2019)” for the Portrait/Figure category; “The Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize 2017” and the “Emerald Winter Pride Art Award” in 2016. She was twice selected to participate in “Sky Portrait Artist of The Year”, aired nationwide in UK in 2020 and in 2019.
Her art has been featured in Colossal, Evolved Mag, MyModernMet, Artists&Illustrator; The Artist’s Magazine, etc and on cover of Arena Magazine (Australia) and exhibited nationally and internationally (UK, Norway, US), included in Saatchiart shows, and sold to renown art collectors wordlwide.
In her portraiture, Rosso Emerald Crimson renders female subjects who emerge through a haze of pastels and muted tones. She infuses the dreamy oil paintings with responses to current affairs and questions about the future, which often serve as a catalyst for her projects. Issues of racial injustice, gender identity and environmental crisis have all played a major role in her work.
The artist often depicts the women and girls staring forward with unsmiling expressions. Stripped from any temporal/spatial connotation, the female characters in Rosso’s paintings are reimagined within timeless landscapes, evoking a sense of transcendental presence that connects with the viewers at different levels of the subconscious mind.
Technically, while the portrayal of the figures is achieved by a meticulous rendering using traditional oil painting techniques, the deconstruction (and reconstruction) of the surrounding derives from the juxtaposition of different media, including spray paint, vigorous scraping and scratching of the surface and application of metal leafs and gilding. The creative process is deliberately chaotic in the making yet geared towards the achievement of a sense of harmony and a visually engaging imagery.
https://www.rossoart.net/bio
Interview
Artist: Rosso Emerald Crimson
What were your early art influences growing up in Italy?
Growing up in Sicily, my very first art influences come from classical Greek art. The first school- art trip I remember when I was six, was to the Valle dei Templi (Valley of Temples) in Agrigento, where we could see some majestic examples of Greek temples in both Doric and Corinthian style. Because of Sicily’s rich history and connection to the classical era, our teachers in primary and secondary schools were very keen to focus on this specific time in the history of art. I still love it and feel emotional when I visit the Valley of Temples, or the British Museum here in London.
How would you describe your personal iconography?
My personal iconography is about women who feel contemporary yet classical at the same time, present yet ethereal. Women who evoke a plethora of emotions and with whom the viewers connect at different levels of the subconscious mind.
Stylistically, it’s a mixture (and sometimes, a clash) of cultural influences that I have been exposed to throughout the years. In my formative years, my art was full of symbols and references to traditional and contemporary folklore and, now and then, even religious iconography. As I grew older, my interests changed and so has the external depiction of my subjects. Yet I find their essence remarkably similar.
What is your typical daily work routine?
I would say an “office routine”; with tons of extra and overtime! Getting to the studio by 9 am, ending at 7 or 8 pm, sometimes even 9 pm, depending on what I am working on. Coffee and biscuits to keep me going, and very few breaks in between. I take alternate weekends off. A lot of extra time goes into running my Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Can you tell us about your creative process?
My creative process starts with a combination of brainstorming with intuition and dreams. This I reckon is the most difficult and emotionally intensive phase, full of clashes between a rational mind that plans in terms of commercial value, versus the very emotional irrational part that dreams of grandiose compositions that transport me as an artist and eventually the viewer. It can take weeks to come to a solution and a visualization that works, at least potentially. Once the idea is more defined, I start collecting sources to create it, including models who pose for it. Then there is the actual realization of the work, which is what I really enjoy most. To me, when a painting starts flowing, is like being in a fun fair.
What do you believe is the key element in creating a good oil painting?
Having a good source is fundamental. Not only in terms of lighting and composition, but also the subject we intend to depict must truly inspire us. Only then can we get into the magic of the painting process, be absorbed by it, become connected.
What do you love most about where you live? How do you think it influences your work?
I have been living in London for 20 years now and one main reason I love this city and decided to move here in my twenties is for its cosmopolitan character. For me, crossing the park daily and coming across such diversity and richness of cultures and lifestyles is invaluable. I think it is very clear how this environment has influenced my art and the choice of my subjects. I always wonder how and what I would paint if I was living in the countryside or where I was born, in Sicily.
What’s the most indispensable item in your studio?
My lovely brushes, and, recently, my collection of different sized spatulas and palette knives. Spatulas especially have revolutionized the way I work.
What’s the best and worst advice you ever received during your art career?
The best and truest advice: Don’t wait for inspiration to start working, rather, work to get inspired. I cannot recall any bad advice, luckily.
Your favorite quote is …
“If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you are not in the right area. Always go a little further into the water that you feel you are capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you are just about in the right place to do something exciting.” ~ David Bowie
Editor: Lisa Portscher
https://www.instagram.com/lisaportscher/
