Interview with Isabella Conti for Toi Art Gallery

January 15, 2021

Isabella Conti was born in Milano. After studying Science and working as an office manager, she took the path to illustration in 2018. She likes to portray people and landscapes as a feeling, making almost imperceptible to draw the line between reality and dreamlike dimension. Her illustrations are made with ink, watercolor and a lot of love. Isabella has collaborated with Emergency ONG and Edizioni EL; her works have been selected in several Italian competitions.

She currently lives with her partner, two children and a beautiful cat, surrounded by green hills, "dreaming and drawing, singing and dancing."

Where did you grow up? How was your childhood?

I grew up in a small town on Northern Italy, in the countryside. When I was a child I spent my time with my sister and playing with our friends. My childhood was my golden age.

Were your parents artists?

They are not artists, but they have this way of searching beauty in simple things. I learn from them how to appreciate art.

Have you always been drawn to drawing? When did you discover you wanted to be an artist?

I don't know where it started, but when I was a child I remember my grandmother's house where I found my mother's art book and I saw Michelangelo's work. After that I began to love the contrast of light and shadows in his sculptures. In primary school, my teacher told me to write a story by looking at a Van Gogh painting: I think this was the exact moment when I discovered that I was going to become an artist.

Metamorfosis by Isabella Conti. Limited edition print.

Your work often depicts single female figures, somewhat solitary, usually looking at the viewer. Tell us more about this form of representation.

Oltremare by Isabella Conti. Limited edition print.

Women for me represents a feeling of human being as a whole, the nearest to the divine: the universe and its origin at the same time. I think we –as women- have a fundamental role and sometimes we forget it.

My portraits are a manifesto of our feelings; I try to speak to all women with emotions.

Pensieri by Isabella Conti. Limited edition.

Is your work connected with self-representation?

Yes I think that every work of art is a connection with the artist. I believe I dissolve my personal boundaries in my work.

Chaos by Isabella Conti. Limited edition print.

How do emotions play in your work?

It’s where all begins.

How’s your work routine?

My day organizes as a duality: On one side I have to manage and organize a service company, an administrative job. On the other I dedicate myself to art, it feels like such a rebirth for me and when I’m working, time seems to stand still. They are two complementary elements: without the first I could not love the second.