Interview with Milena Bini
In your varied artistic journey, starting in adolescence, what initially led you toward art as a form of expression and how has this inspiration evolved over time?
Art was initially therapeutic for me, the medium that allowed me to express my states of mind. I remember in my early adolescent conflicts feeling a strong uneasiness, running to the attic, grabbing everything I had on hand: sand, paper, paints, glues, etc., and instinctively transferring my malaise to canvas or board. Art was my salvation. This is precisely why I enrolled in one school after another to learn how to express myself better in this language. The real passion blossomed in high school where I had the good fortune to meet good teachers who passed on to me a love of art history and human figure drawing; attending classes got me hooked on oil painting, over time I experimented with different techniques and expressions in various artistic fields, I was thirsty to learn.
I then focused on a single project inspired by an autobiographical story represented with an installation of 100 APPLE SCULPTURES all different to symbolically represent human beings, all unique.
Focusing in one direction, I refined the technique, the art evolved into professionalism and what I want to convey today through my work.
And what I want to convey today through this project is a positive message.
You attended several schools to hone your artistic skills. Can you describe a pivotal moment or significant mentor during your training that profoundly influenced your artistic development?
Definitely good professors who were able to pass on their passion, especially two from the design school: the figure professor who was also a good artist and the art history professor, even in the academy I didn't meet such good ones, in fact I dropped out of my studies, it wasn't my path or I wasn't ready at that time.
From painting to short films to sculpture, you have explored numerous artistic fields. What drives you to experiment with different mediums and how do these various experiences interconnect in your artistic vision?
I couldn't say how they interconnected, but I think it was the endless desire to express myself, to learn and to experiment, for example now I am fascinated by what I still don't know well such as wood, glass, plexiglass, lights, 3d graphics, although it would take me another lifetime to perfect them.
When I was painting I was not interested in sculpture, I never thought, years later, that I could get so passionate about it, maybe even more than painting, and yet it happened.
Some people call me a sculptor, but I feel like a painter, actually I don't sculpt, I just model clay and in fact I like to focus on aesthetic finishing techniques, for example even just in the field of ceramic glazes there is a huge world to discover.
Could you take us through your creative process? How do you approach a new work of art, from conception to realization?
The inspiration comes from real life, since 2016 I have been dedicated only to the project "Cath diversity" which deals with the theme of self-acceptance, awareness of one's uniqueness, taken from an autobiographical story, represented with an art installation of 100 apples all different, the apple in my project represents the human being.
Many years have passed from the time I conceived the idea to the time I materialized it.... I think I always had it in mind but never decided to realize it, in the meantime I was always painting inspired by real life... finally when in 2016 I decided to make the installation, to prepare it I devoted a whole year, it was the most fun! but also the most challenging period.
His installations involve the use of ceramic apples with various textures and finishes, such as rough, smooth, porous, and striated surfaces, as well as different aspects such as color, chrome effects, and matte or gloss finishes. Can you explain more about your choice of ceramics as a medium and the specific techniques you used to achieve such a diverse range of textures and aspects? How do these different tactile and visual qualities contribute to the thematic exploration of diversity and individual identity in your work?
The most fun and challenging part for me is finding and experimenting with different techniques and finishes, always inspiring me from traditional pottery to more innovative and special glazes, each apple is unique or if similar one particular one will always be different! like human beings! for example, the nails I use as pegs I search for them at flea markets and there is no one similar to the other.
Your experience in Brazil creating murals in an orphanage must have been impactful. How have such cultural experiences and travel influenced your artistic perspective?
Many years have passed since that experience: it was wonderful! Definitely of great emotional impact, one cannot remain indifferent living such an experience.
I remember that in Salvador Bahia I drew two murals inspired by the local vegetation and the people I met in the orphanage, and the funniest thing was that in one of the murals I involved the children who had practically painted themselves to help me paint! Despite the poor conditions in which they lived, their cheerfulness was super infectious at the time I was working part time in a hypermarket, coming back from that trip it seemed to me that there was a gray veil over everything and I saw a great waste of food thrown into containers at the end of the day while in other parts of the world people are also starving.
That trip reinforced my desire to devote myself to art full time.
Reflecting on your many exhibitions and awards, what achievement are you most proud of and why?
When I won the first "Artestrasse" painting prize at a very young age because the jury was made up of people I respected including Oscar di Prata, an important artist from my city who has frescoed many churches but also Antonio De Martino, a contemporary artist and when I was selected for the exhibition competition in Miami in 2019, organized by the Artboxproject Gallery in Zurich, I was more than excited, exhibiting one of my apple sculptures on American soil was one of my dreams.
The inspiration for "Catch Diversity" comes from your story “A Big Apple” which metaphorically addresses diversity through the journey of a green apple among red ones. How do you see the narrative of your story reflected in the physical installation, and how do you imagine audiences interacting with and interpreting these symbolic elements? Furthermore, how do the individual characteristics of each ceramic apple contribute to the overall narrative that embraces both personal and social diversity?
The “Catch diversity” project was initially exhibited with an artistic installation of 100 apples, similar in shape but aesthetically different with the aim of leading the observer to reflect on their own and others' diversity, particularity and uniqueness.
Walking through the installation, made up of apples all the same only in appearance and made of ceramic with different methods and techniques, the user will be encouraged to analyze the differences and similarities fruit by fruit, recognizing themselves in the qualitative characteristics of the object itself such as the surface or color, thus choosing consciously and according to purely subjective bases which object to feel part of and which to distance oneself from.
In this choice, each person should grasp and appreciate their own intrinsic diversity, just as they grasped the diversity of the apples on display, not only understanding their existence, but also their beauty.
The inspiration for this installation came from an autobiographical story entitled “a Big Apple” - biography of an apple, even if very simply it dealt with the themes of diversity by accompanying step by step a green apple that finds itself growing among many apples red. Taking inspiration from the figure of the apple and using its shape as a construction basis, I then modified the exterior of each of the proposed apples as much as possible, thus obtaining a sort of colorful portrait of a society in which there is a common shape and a different culture .
You have expressed your belief that "art is a cure for body and soul". How do you see the role of art in society, especially in contemporary times?
Reiterating the concept that art is therapeutic.
I think art is a beautiful means of expression for the artist but also for those who observe it
attending contemporary art fairs and observing social channels I noticed that in recent years there has been an explosion of pop art which portrays more or less well comic book characters, famous actresses and reproduces logos of great stylists, I asked myself the because of this mass artistic expression, perhaps the motivation is that after the period of confinement due to covid we need colour, lightness, even superficiality, who knows...
Looking to the future, what new directions or projects are you looking forward to exploring in your artistic journey?
For several years I have been studying a project that is still in its embryonic state and which is particularly close to my heart: it represents the human being in contemporary society and the medium he uses most, I hope to be able to give it light. At least by 2025 ! I am exploring new materials and more ideas will come as it is created
At the same time I continue the “Catch Diversity” project but with innovative mini suspended installations and large sculptures you never stop creating, experimenting, playing!
