Sabrina Casadei is an Italian artist based in Rome and Berlin. She's primarily a painter but has also started doing installation pieces in recent years. We caught up with Sabrina to learn more about her process, influences and aspirations.
photo credit: http://instantportrart.blogspot.it/
Kiki Sideris: Hi, Sabrina - Could you start by describing a real-life situation that inspired you?
Sabrina Casadei: I do not think it is really a matter of inspiration in my work. I would prefer to talk about a different approaches to reality. I constantly look around me, looking for something that could draw my attention. When it happens I cut, isolate, imagine, collect and compose new visions.
KS: What research do you do?
SC: My research is strictly connected to a theoretical construct or idea. I read a lot and I need to focus on a subject before starting a new work cycle.
KS: Is your work autobiographical at all?
SC: I have never thought of my work as autobiographical. In my opinion even the most intimate works are not autobiographical at all. There is something that should go beyond personal questions and feelings.
KS: How has your work changed since you were younger?
SC: It has changed so much that I do not even recognize my first works as my own. I started painting quite late, during the third year of Arts Academy and before that I had never had artistic ambitions. Since then, everything has happened and evolved very quickly.
KS: What materials do you work with? Do you have a favorite medium?
SC: I am mostly a painter, but I also work with mixed media. I paint on canvas, paper, plastic, wood and I often mix more materials in the same work. I use the pictorial medium in absolute freedom, making continuous experiments.
KS: Tell me more about the process of making your installation pieces.
SC: I started doing installations as a collaboration with artist Giulio Zanet. We are both painters and we decided to begin a parallel project with a different approach. We did our first project together in Berlin two years ago and after that we have been invited on several occasions to work on new shows together. In July we have been asked to create a new installation piece for Pulsart Restart, a contemporary art festival in the North of Italy.
I also make my own installation pieces, which is more an evolution of my painting process.
KS: Could you talk a little about the use of color in your paintings?
SC: Color is the most important part in my paintings. I don’t do sketches before painting, especially in my latest works. I start creating forms and I try to give them a color and volume dimension.
KS: How do people respond to your work? Are there any common questions they ask?
SC: People find my works interesting, but also quite complicated. They are fascinated by colors and by their peculiar atmosphere.
KS: Name three artists you would like to be compared to.
SC: There are many great artists that I admire and I would like to be compared to, but they are top artists so I wouldn’t really compare myself to them at this early stage. Three artists that I look up to are: Tacita Dean, Francisco Goya and Giorgio De Chirico.
KS: What’s the art world like in Italy and how do you navigate it? What about Berlin?
SC: I am trying to understand the art world in Italy and I think it is a closed world. Some time ago I made the decision not to get involved in closed environments and I am trying to respect it. The situation in Berlin is really different, it appears to offer more opportunity, but artistic quality is often low.
KS: Fun question - If you could be an artist in any time period and country, what would you choose?
SC: Arnold Böcklin during 19th century during his travels to Italy.
