What subjects inspire you?
I draw inspiration from the digital chaos, gathering daily photos and video frames from social media and Google, in order to create new meanings. And I am particularly drawn to photographs that talk about themselves and are proposed as a container of multiple layers of meaning, so to the meta-images.
What feelings do you have while painting?
Although I don’t use brushes and colors, digital debris combined with a graphics tablet on a screen, I consider my approach as painting. I combine it with photography because I want to convey a certain visual ambiguity in my work. Only one of the two mediums may not give me this possibility. And when I start working on a new image, I enter a sort of trance state: I look at the Photoshop canvas letting myself be carried away in the composition without knowing exactly where I am going. At that point, I immerse myself so much in my work that it becomes difficult for me to stop and sometimes even interact with other people.
Finally, for me, working on an image also takes on a political and existential connotation: it is a way to reclaim my time and turn off the frenzy of the world. In fact, I try to bring back this experience by returning to works that speak of my slow, analytical, and meditative approach as well as of a lost empathy.
late summer afternoons n1 
late summer afternoons n2
Describe your practice in 5 words.
Research – thought – meditation – immersion – observation
What’s your work day like?
I divide my day between work and my daughter; I wake up very early in the morning and work until early afternoon. I am very strict in my work, and I have never taken long breaks.
What does your atelier look like?
Mine is a studio house. It’s both a necessity and a choice because I can’t separate my personal life from my work. Besides a designated space with my desk, the rest of the apartment is a hybrid: I have materials, artwork, and scattered inputs throughout the house. This also involves my family, especially my daughter, who considers my materials her favorite toys, and I’m happy about it because I want to nurture her imagination.
her 
On feelings
What are your plans for 2023?
My solo exhibition is about to open at Viasaterna, the gallery I’ve been collaborating with for years in Milan. After that, I have several private commissions and collaborations with brands lined up. I’m in a good creative moment, and I believe I’ll produce many more artworks throughout the year.
Teresa Giannico – www.teresagiannico.com
