I was born in Cremona but I have lived, since 2007, with my family in a small town near there called Soresina. I'm not very fond to that place: I spent most of my childhood at home and, speaking of youth, I always travelled by train to the towns nearby to hang out with my closest friends. Instead, I have many happy memories linked to Cremona: it reminds me of many saturday afternoons of my childhood spent with my family visiting that beautiful city; I have always thought it's a great place to live in. Milan is different, much bigger and chaotic; it's cool for I have the opportunity to meet a lot of people, but I can't stop thinking that the metropolitan life is way too boring and alienating.
The Gloom
How did you approach to art?
My approach to art isn't connected with school, it's mostly due to a personal will to research, to know. I haven't learn to draw, still I feel an unceasing urge to draw. I have sketched things in my free time since I was a child, I also used to read a lot of illustrated books; however I decisively approached to art when I came to Milan in 2007: I began to visit a lot of exhibitions, to collect many art books and, through the web, I got to know interesting artists. At the same time I started to draw on a graphic tablet, which I received as a gift from my girlfriend at that time.
Lost boy IV
Each artist has got a muse. What's yours?
Honestly, I think that each artist's muse can't be but himself; at least, this is my vision of art. My muse is me, with my ghost friends.
The night has opened my eyes
Are you attracted from childhood subject?
Yes, and not only in art but in a more general view. I find everything related to childhood being magical and intriguing, while the adult world is mostly boring and dull. Speaking of art, I think children are beautiful subjects because their expressions are always true and intense since they don't know how to fake them like adults do, plus they are surrounded by a world much more dreamy and, at the same time, haunting and terrifying. Certainly I relate to that world much more than to the adult one.
A boy's course
Is there a perfect moment to paint during the day/night?
Late afternoons, lazy evenings, and night, of course.
Voice of the afternoon
Let's talk about your artworks: what technique do you prefer to use?
By now I work only with my computer; using Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop. I clearly admit I'm not so good with the traditional methods and I think that, digitally, I can obtain a certain grade of perfection in my works; not to speak of quickness.
Matteo in his room
Do you work in progress?
Not usually, I tend to start and finish every work in the same day.
What's your favorite mood to paint?
Just when I have the inspiration; I can be very happy or extremely sad, it doesn't count for my art is not based on momentary states of mind but on fixed, indelible feelings.
To the lighthouse
So, how do you get the inspiration to carry out your projects? Tell me about "The three ages" artwork. How that image came to your mind?
It depends from pic to pic: sometimes I get the inspiration looking at old photographs, postcards, or watching movies and the world around me; more usually I try to reproduce, in my works, some images that literally come to my mind in a random way, I'd say; surely not with a conscious thought. That's how I got the image of "The three ages" work: a child laughing wickedly and a man with a hand on his face; a moon behind them. It's one of the most unconscious and symbolic pics I've ever made. I'm happy with the result (it doesn't happen a lot of times) and also with the title, which is often the last and sometimes the most problematic thing I think about.
The three ages
Your last works are mainly b/w. Is there any reason why you have a preference for those two colors?
You know those old pictures in the family books: they seem to portray a lost but immortal world. Looking at them you can't think of any color in this world: it is just black and white. That's the kind of feeling I want to achieve in my works.
The hands resist me
Have you ever shown your works at an exhibition?
No, but I've received a few proposals. When I'll feel ready for an exhibition, I'll consider things more seriously.
I know that you love to write also. What do you write about?
By now I'm writing short stories but I'm very reserved about them; in the future I'd like to write novels. What do I write about? I'd say: my mind, people, childhood memories, sorrow, and the beauty of life.
The body is a cage
Do you listen to music while painting? If so, which kind of music?
The kind of music people often label as sad or depressing: songwriters like Nick Drake, Morrissey, Tom Waits, or groups like The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian and Joy Division.
Tomorrow is a long time
What's your favorite movie?
Fanny and Alexander by Ingmar Bergman. It's a splendid recollection of childhood, a travel through happy and sad times, through delighting memories and haunting fears, accompanied by a sweet, melancholic leitmotiv. You surely should watch it, especially in this time of the year.
Yesterdays gone
What's on your 2009 Christmas wish list?
Just some books, I think. I've also in mind to print a book with a selection of my works, it would be pretty nice!
Hide and seek
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