What is the best thing I love about my job? 

I am an artist and an illustrator.  I love my job unconditionally because it is the only chance to survive myself.  Alone, with my “wakom”, I break down reality and recreate it in digital collages.  Women are at the center of my works, I cut them out of their lives and put them in my world.  I often draw them accompanied by gentle feathered.  These creatures, far from the birds of paradise, are messengers of primordial obsessions.  My ladies are ethereal, apparently frail, but when they raise it, their gaze pierces you.  Their magnetism calls you from the canvas to invite you to cross the border between reality and dream.

What is my idea of ​​happiness? 

My happiness is to thrill others.

Sometimes words are not enough, then pencils, shapes and colors are needed.

What is my greatest fear? 

Fear of the unknown is the most powerful of emotions. Every time it assails me I don’t know if I will survive it…

What is the trait of myself that I most regret?

I blame myself for the absolute inability to face daily life.

Qual’è il tratto che più deploro di me?

Mi biasimo per l’assoluta incapacità di affrontare la vita quotidiana. The practical issues are for me charades, facing them causes me a devastating anxiety.

What people in my profession do I admire most? 

I appreciate the self-denial of all the artists who have the courage to carry on their work with determination. I esteem some illustrators such as Gabriel Pacecho, Simone Rea, the sisters Balbusso, Ofra Amit, Nicoletta Ceccoli, Glenda Sburelin, Agostino Lacurci…. There are so many of them, but the one that most affected my work is Lorenzo Mattotti.

What’s my biggest extravagance?

I am extravagant in the etymological sense of the term (from the Latin extra-outside and vagantem-participle to wander). I live beyond fashions and homologations, in a world of my own, beyond everyday reality.

When would I lie? 

Sometimes lying is not bad, but charity and compassion.

What is the thing I don’t like about my work? 

I hate loneliness in front of my canvas. I’m locked in my body, but my soul has already flown away.

When and where have I been the happiest in my work? 

I was thrilled when, in 2011, I was awarded at the Children Book Fair in the “fiction”selection and at the presentation in Tokyo of the “Cle de Peau Beauté’s 2018 Holliday Collection”, when Shiseido decorated the beauty collection and the interior view of their shops with my works.

If I could, what would I change about myself? 

Oh,my God, give me patience… and hurry!

In my work I am quiet but I pray every day the good Lord to give me the patience to endure the wear and tear of daily life.

What is my greatest success at work?

I consider my obstinacy, my greatest success. I defended my work against the skepticism of the people and the diffidence of my father, who for me had already planned other horizons. I was able to express myself and show others that “I fly alone!”

Where would I like to live most?

I love to live in Rome, which is my city. “I’m here”, but my mind travels on an ageless pilgrimage.

What is my most precious possession? 

Destiny gave me talent and gave me a family that loves me.

What is my strongest characteristic? 

I’m ironic, bordering on cynicism.

What is the place I love the most in my city?

“Rome, caput mundi “I adore you! I like the Etruscan museum of Valle Giulia and visit in the evening the courtyard of Palazzo Spada and the Appia Antica, along with many other places of my adored city.

What is my favorite place to eat and drink in my city? 

I adore “Fiddler’s Elbow”, the oldest Irish pub in Italy. It’s not a typically Roman restaurant but a melting pot, a special place, a bit ‘since “a world out of the world”.  I have beautiful memories that tie me to this local and that take me back to find the pleasure of an evening with friends.

Which books influenced my life and how?

There are many novels that I consider to be bildungsroman for several reasons: “Zen and the art of of motorcycle maintenance”of Pirsig because my father gave it to me, “The Foucault’s Pendulum” because I love Umberto Eco, ” Dietro l’immagine” (Behind the image) of  Federico Zeri because he was a man of genius. I’m omnivorous and I love all kinds of books. I have an overweening passion for the crime novels of Giménez Bartlett, Fred Vargas, James Ellroy, Fruttero & Lucentini and Simenon. I love the scent of printed paper and the size of all the volumes published by Sellerio.

You die only once. Which music would you listen to on the last day? 

This question puts me in trouble because I like too much “music”, also even of so many different types. Sounds and words have always influenced my life. I confess, now and again, that I’ve had a past decidedly punk-rock but now I love Schubert in the “Andante with moto piano trio No.2”

What role does art play in my life and in my work? 

My work is art and art is my life… that’s all.

Who is my hero or hero in fiction? 

My favourite hero was Indiana Jones because I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was little!

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life? 

I have no heroes but I follow the example of my father, an intellectual anarchist, who has always pursued his own dreams and helped others unconditionally.

Quale film consiglieresti di vedere una volta nella vita?

Consiglio Barry Lyndon di Kubrick. È un film fortemente visivo, talmente ricco di immagini e riferimenti estetici da farne la più ampia e rigorosa rappresentazione del Settecento che il cinema abbia mai prodotto.

What do the words tell me “are you the narrator of your own life?”

I tell myself through my works.

Who is my big fan, sponsor, partner in crime?

It will be banal but it is my husband who supports me and puts up with me!

With which people or companies would I like to work in 2020?

I look for the bravery of those who want to make me work free, without constraints and constraints.

On which project, in 2020, I can’t wait to work? 

I’m not looking for projects, but the freedom to express personal vision of reality through art!

Where can you see me or my work in 2020? 

My works can be seen

on my website https://www.dariapetrilli.eu,

On my Instagram @dariapetrilliofficial,

On Facebook page

 https://www.facebook.com/dariapetrilliofficial1

What do the words “passion never retires” mean to me?

This sentence does not reflect me because my generation, it seems, will not benefit. Also because my art is out of time and space and I’m fine with it!