Today we’d like to introduce you to Silvia Muleo.
Hi Silvia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Pisa, Italy in 1998. Pisa is a very ‘science oriented’ city, and my family is as well. My brain was shaped into the type of critical thinking that comes with the scientific method. Luckily, art and science have been intertwined for many revolutionary historical figures in Tuscany and in Italian history; the two disciplines owe a lot to each other’s growth. In my family, there was no doubt of the contribution of both in the evolution of humans’ life; therefore growing up I could enjoy the exploration of art and science, fantasy and facts, emotion and logic, together in all their many points of contact.
According to my parents’ memory, I started scribbling as soon as I could hold a marker in my hand, and I basically haven’t stopped yet. As a teenager, I was very into digital art, and I spent a lot of time messing around with a graphic tablet and doing terrible music videos, very much inspired by the rhythm and movement of Japanese animation.
At 18, once I finished high school, there was no job that spoke to me other than being an artist. I felt that I had no choice; I took my passion seriously and applied to the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence. I had a wonderful time there and built a strong knowledge that I’m very grateful for. Once I graduated, I wanted to see more of what was happening outside my country. Following a teacher’s suggestion, I started looking at New York City. When I got accepted at the School of Visual Arts I couldn’t believe it, never in my life I thought I could see New York, let alone study and live here.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been a process to move away from home and my country. I always felt strongly that it was the right choice for me: being exposed to different places and people allowed me to grow a lot as a person and as an artist, but it was and is hard. There are a lot of simple things I still struggle to figure out. I started from a blank slate both in Florence and New York City; each time, I left behind important connections with places and people. When I leave, everything stays the same in my mind, frozen in time, and when I visit back, the weight of the things I missed hit me all at once. It is just an initial feeling because love never leaves, and it manages to bend time in weird ways.
On a more positive note, every time I moved, I found exciting communities and opportunities, along with new parts of myself that emerged from every resolved challenge.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I make paintings to confront the complexity of contemporary existence across virtual and physical spaces. I paint reflections as a metaphor to visualize the mirror world of social media. A world where reality and mediation can’t be visually discerned. Layers of mediation overlap; their subtlety more and more refined makes the already porous boundaries between physical and digital disappear, leaving us, the users, blind to the frames between these worlds.
My work is preceded by photographic research. I collect and take pictures every day of what surrounds me to build an archive of data that gets reframed on Canvas. The paintings are figurative while resisting narrative. They vary in scale from intimate to architectural to play with the promise of reality that life-size dimension provides. The ephemerality of our sense of reality is translated into thin layers of oil paint and washed-out palette. As a result, the subject lacks stability, and the viewer’s eyes can’t rely on it. The work poses unsolvable questions around reality and identity, widening the conversation on contemporary visual culture.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Every person and experience in my life deserves credit. Every action, piece of knowledge, and conversation can shape our thoughts or inspire. Since my work always starts with a concept I don’t even know where to start. It’s impossible to get this far without support, whether financial or emotional. I don’t think we truly do anything alone, and we shouldn’t; humans thrive in communities. Having to thank a lot of people for where I am in my life makes me feel very lucky and grateful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.silviamuleo.com
- Instagram: @silvia.muleo
