10 Questions with Federica Toniolo

Federica Toniolo, born in 1990, is a multidisciplinary artist based in Madrid with Italian roots and diverse international experiences.

Her academic background encompasses two worlds rarely seen combined. She holds degrees in Advanced Chemical Engineering (University College London and University of Cambridge) and in Fine Art, with a specialization in painting (Milan’s Academy of Brera). As an emerging artist, she focuses her research on the meaning of home as a fundamental, evolving, and yet characterizing human need, as well as its implications for our individual and collective happiness. Her artistic research intersects with fields such as architecture, design, and sociology.

She employs various techniques, such as multilayered paintings, with juxtapositions and subtractions; art-printing combined with collage and texts. She also designs experiential installations, to provoke discoveries and facilitate personal reflections through active engagement.

Her artworks aim to deeply and widely resonate with the largest possible audience and ultimately have an impact on society at large.

tonisupers.com | @federicatoniolo_art

ARTIST STATEMENT

The need for home quivers in each and every one of us as humans and only in us in the world of living creatures. Home is more than a physical space. It’s a dense compound of atmospheres we need to return to daily.

In her artistic practice, Federica Toniolo investigates the meaning of home as a fundamental human need; the influence of domestic surfaces and objects; the exchange between home and urban space in the consumerism and digitalisation era; home as a psychological, social and moral entity; as a source of integration and expression of our identity, connected to individual and collective wellbeing.

Her research is done via a mix of techniques: oil painting juxtaposing multiple layers to replicate the daily friction that deposits over the surfaces of our home and objects; art- printing, collages, and texts, reproducing the intricate and mysterious stories that the – apparently - inanimate inhabitants of our homes whisper; she designs playful and experiential projects, for art to touch its audiences widely and deeply, facilitating personal reflections via active engagement.

In doing so, she mingles various facets of her experience, encompassing science, learning facilitation, and art.

INTERVIEW

First of all, let's talk about your background and upbringing. How did you first get interested in art, and when did you decide to pursue a career in this field? 

As a young student, I have always been interested in anything connected to the humanities. In high school, I particularly loved studying literature and art history, as well as science. My family has a little tradition of painting, so I think that has sat with me for a while, and it was then at university that I started embracing it, with art practice becoming more and more of a need in my life. Picking up brushes and oil colors was somehow triggered by my first bachelor's in Engineering. I loved the diversity we had in high school, and I found focusing on just one discipline quite entrapping. I really needed an outlet, a connection to the beauty and the freedom of creation, thoughts, and ideation that art nowadays allows. Since then, I have always looked for opportunities to create more space for art until I embraced a new cycle of studies and set time to dedicate to art on a daily basis.

How do your Italian roots and diverse international experiences influence your artistic perspective and themes? 

My Italian roots have influenced my educational foundation, which is more broad than sectorial, allowing for a connection to our cultural heritage. When moving abroad, I realized that we are often recognized - among other stereotypes - for our creative genius, for what our presumed ancestors had been able to contribute to a culture long before Italy was even a nation. When wandering around museums, I always spotted "Italian" artworks and was fascinated by the wealth of what had been created. I do not want to convey here nor believe in "Italianity" as a concept, as a static definition to be pursued and claimed, which is very misleading and limiting. Observing these artworks had served more as an initial stimulation to appreciate how much these personalities – humans more than Italians - had been able to create before us, and feel like we can, we must, as human beings, continue to keep that alive and ever-evolving, as many international artists keep doing today. Speaking of evolution, art has evolved hugely over time, and its definition has been reformulated and challenged, leaving it now an open question. Exposure to different perspectives, approaches to life, and artistic practices from any side of the globe, through living and working abroad, helped me cultivate an open mindset, which I think can help me grasp what art means today.

And how does your education in both Advanced Chemical Engineering and Fine Art influence your approach to your art practice?

Studying Engineering sparked a need for something diametrically opposite, driving me to explore opportunities to be exposed to other aspects of our human nature, different ways of thinking and looking at the world around us. On a more conventional level, I believe engineering has provided me with a structured approach to work and solving problems, which can easily be applied to art practice, too. In my works, I have often been thinking about the topic I wanted to approach and explore, the messages I aimed to convey, and the reflections I hoped to provoke in the viewer, and then translating these into a visual or experiential form. Of course, there is also an intuitive aspect – those spontaneous ideas about how the next piece could look - which emerges less scientifically and uncontrolled. However, these intuitions can be enhanced by a structured process of knowledge gathering, observations, and experimentation (trial and error). These are elements that come from the world of science but that many artists use in their approach, maybe just by framing them differently. In this sense, the world of art and science may not be so distant after all! Finally, I quite enjoy the tactile and analogic aspects of creating art; I love learning about pigments and mediums, mixing and creating my own colors, and immersing myself in the materiality of art production.

Speaking of your practice, what inspired you to focus on the concept of home in your artistic research, and how do you explore its different dimensions? 

It all started during the pandemic when we were asked to work on our self-portraits at school. I started thinking about how much the background of our video calls had become a fundamental part of how we presented ourselves to the world. With social interactions limited to the digital channels, traditional forms of self-expression like posture, body language, and clothing were minimized, whilst the portions of home displayed behind us could be so telling (and even staged accordingly). This led me to reflect on the connection between home and identity, the influence that home had on us, and how this relationship was evolving in an increasingly hybrid society. Home is such a crucial element in our lives - it characterizes us as humans in a unique way compared to other living beings. Homes are not just shelters; they are integral to our happiness and wellbeing. Despite this, thought leaders have historically focused more on urban, professional, andpolitical spaces as sites of self-realization, often overlooking the domestic ones. My research delves into this overlooked area, examining how our homes shape us and how we, in turn, shape them. Through my art, I aim to bring attention to the significance of the domestic space and offer insights into how we can live in it more consciously.

Can you explain the techniques you use, such as multilayered paintings and collages, and how they help convey your themes? 

When exploring the concept of home, I also focused a lot on the relationships we hold with our domestic objects. I got intrigued by the idea of creating "domestic hieroglyphs" to convey the mysterious nature of the objects that populate our homes, a code that is revealed only to its inhabitants and gradually to its visitors. I began by working on paper, mixing lithography and collages, to create pages where the stories these objects whisper are partially disclosed and partially disguised, erased, reversed, and difficult to fully grasp. When transitioning to paintings, I worked via layers, juxtaposing and subtracting shapes. The objects sink into the background, sometimes even carved into the first layer of paint, and then more surfaces are added on top. This is to replicate the atmospheres these objects create and the frictions that daily life deposits over them, enriching the objects with new meanings, emotions, and stories that unfold every time we look at them. 

How do fields like architecture, design, and sociology intersect with and inform your artwork? 

The concept of home is universal and deeply characterizes our human nature. When reflecting on its meaning, historically and nowadays, its impact on daily life and happiness, many disciplines come into play. Architecture and design offer valuable insights into how we have viewed and continue to view our homes. Studying the thoughts of visionary past and current architects, like Cini Boeri, to name one, can provide very actionable perspectives such as on the importance of independence and "responsible" autonomy at home, as well as the interplay between social and autonomous space, between home and the external environment. Sociology also plays a crucial role. Reflecting on the meaning of home involves examining theories on its cultural significance and its impact on human behaviors, as well as considering the influence of digitalization and consumerism. If we want to foster change, we need to start from existing knowledge, build on it, and then go back to these multiple relevant fields to channel new ideas.

As you mentioned in your statement, domestic surfaces and objects are central to your work. How do you choose them, and what stories do they tell? 

Like many artists, I start with the closest models I have, in this case, my own apartment. My home is a treasure trove of objects that I have collected, inherited, or received as gifts whose meaning is evocative and multilayered. To name some of the objects you'll find in my artworks, I have collected over time about 30 herons of various shapes and materials, alongside masks, jars, prints, and an assortment of unusual items reminding me of travels, experiences, and people dear to me. I must admit my inclination towards collecting was a near-compulsive urge that I have learned to temper over time. Collecting was to me almost like building an archive of things to hold on to, a way to remember, to physically embody sides of my identity, parts of my history, which could be reviewed, manipulated, and weaved into new coherent narratives. It's been a way to produce meaning and to counter the passing of time. Writing journals, which I sometimes read back, also had a similar function and was a habit for me. As such, articulating the stories embedded in these objects for the purpose of creating these new artworks came quite naturally.

What impact do you hope your art will have on society, and how do you envision it resonating with a larger audience? 

Home is, above all, a moral entity, as well explained by E. Coccia in his book "Filosofia della casa": a transformative space where we are given the chance to manipulate ourselves to fit the world, as well as to adapt (an angle of) the world to fit ourselves. It is the space that contains everything we need to define our identity. It is an opportunity to build our own happiness. As such, an increased awareness at the individual and collective level of the meaning of home, the symbiotic and mutually influential rapport between the domestic space, its objects, and its inhabitants, on the concrete actions we can take to create more fitting homes for our needs, and homes that can fit all of us as human beings, respectfully of the hosting planet, can profoundly contribute to a healthier relationship with the domestic space, and ultimately foster increased wellbeing at individual and societal level. Through my work, I seek to prompt reflections on concepts often overlooked in daily life and yet so close to all of us. At its core, I aim to raise awareness of the critical role home plays in our happiness and, beyond that, to eventually offer perspectives or stimulate practices that can enhance societal wellbeing through improved housing solutions. My ultimate long-term aspiration is for art to serve as a catalyst for meaningful dialogue and action beyond the art "adepts" world, demonstrating how art can effectively engage wider audiences and trigger positive social change.

What new themes or projects are you excited to explore in the future, and how do you plan to further develop your artistic practice? 

Looking ahead, I would like to delve deeper into the multifaceted themes surrounding the concept of home, a research that never exhausts itself. I am interested in exploring the diverse meanings and cultural practices related to home across different geographies and historical periods. I am also intrigued by how the notion of home is evolving in our contemporary, digitized, consumer-driven, and increasingly space-oriented society and how that should inform any related human field. Furthermore, I am excited to expand my artistic practice by developing more experiential projects. Drawing from my background in learning design, I would like to create immersive installations where visitors could actually experiment with some of those concepts and notions. For instance, projects like my "portable home" concept invite participants not only to observe but to actively live and experience the themes and ideas I seek to convey through my art.

And lastly, what is your favorite experience as an artist so far? 

I have cherished moments when art transcends the confines of the studio or academic settings and engages with a broader audience. For instance, I participated in a collective music/art project for several years, where I complemented live music concerts with impromptu paintings. Additionally, I recently conducted a tempera painting workshop for a group of 35 people, many of whom were new to the technique. These experiences are profoundly rewarding because they demonstrate how art can uniquely touch and inspire the wider public. They also serve as a reminder to those of us who work with art daily of its beauty and uniqueness, as we can sometimes lose our fresh perspective due to our deep involvement. Art's ability to evoke beauty, movement, and inspiration is unparalleled. I aspire for my future works to reach an even broader audience, including those who may not typically engage with art. My goal is to create pieces that invite reflection, discovery, and emotional resonance, making art accessible and meaningful rather than indecipherable.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.