What is the best thing that i love about my work?

As I am visual artist and also painting teacher and art therapist, in my teaching profession I love to assist the miracle of the wonder and surprise that comes up in people in the workshops when they discover their creativity that was repressed maybe for a long time. in the creative process it comes to light again connecting them with the energy, vitality, enthusiasm, the spontaneity of a child, joy and deepness , and listening to their true nature as it expresses itself on the paper.

During my own painting process I love it when I am able to let myself fall totally into the creative process, feeling only the present moment and the awareness of the energy of movements and colors, a strong meditative connection to something I call the source, that guides me beyond the mind, the fear, the doubt.

What is my idea of happiness?

Often the bliss or happiness arrives spontaneously, without trying to achieve it or to hold it. Often it happens in Nature, in the silence, when the heart becomes more open and something like gratitude towards existence and compassion with all beings struggling with their own personal fight on this planet , shows up . Happiness is an intimate kindness.

What is my greatest fear?

My greatest fear is a sort of ‘Truman Show Syndrome’. It is to lose the freedom and autonomy of myself, to depend physically and mentally on someone. Also to be controlled or manipulated .

What is the trait that I most deplore in myself?

I’m sometimes easily distracted and don’t bring tasks to conclusion.

Which living persons in my profession do I most admire?

People who live in an artistic, poetic, ethic, free, natural, sustainable way inspire me much.

Creative people who bring together spirituality and concreteness, expressing themselves artistically, but also having a positive social and ethic impact on the community. I’m thinking about artists like Hundertwasser (who unfortunately is not living anymore) or Sebastiao Salgado.

As I love much good painting, I love very much painters with an extraordinary technique like Wendelin Wohlgemuth, Joshua Hagler, Katinka Lampe, Neo Rauch, Gerhard Richter, Marlene Dumas, Eron, Adrian Ghenie…

What is my greatest extravagance?

I don’t care about ‘normal’ status symbols like a beautiful car or a big bank account. I love surrounding me with beautiful little art works and artistic crafts, books, a wild natural garden, romantic lifestyle… Another extravagance could be that I come from an old aristocratic but not at all rich family.

On what occasion would I lie?

Maybe I would lie to avoid the risk of losing someone I love, if the truth would be too hard to tell.

And if telling the truth would hurt a person very much I suppose I could say nothing or eventually lie.

What is the thing that I most dislike in my work?

I dislike many of the things that have not to do with the creative process, but with ‘selling’ yourself, searching for sponsors, bureaucracy, the commercial part of making art.

When and where was I the happiest in my work?

I was very happy during the workshops of Primal, Energetic and Nature Painting that I have conducted in wild beautiful landscapes and gardens, like the last three years in Sardinia or Puglia.

If I could, what would I change about myself?

Become more sure and trusting about myself and existence . be more patient, centered and go for a clear goal.

What is my greatest achievement in work?

An intense emotion was to make my live painting visuals on the ‘Annunciazione’ by Leonardo da Vinci at Galleria degli Uffizi during the festival UffiziLive in 2018, with the project Innesti together with Collettivo Arteda. Also to exhibit four little contemporary Iconas in dialogue with the ancient Iconas of the Trecento in Galleria Estense in Modena for the same project.

Other highlights have been performances of Walking Paintings, called Art Invasions, in many cities in Italy.

Where would I most like to live?

Nearly every time I travel in a new country I could imagine to live there, sometimes because of the nature, sometimes the interesting mentality of the people, the art scene , the culture, archeology, the smell and the colours.

I think a place where to find equally culture and nature, near a beautiful inspiring city and the sea, with a warm climate would be the best. Maybe Algarve or Sardinia or Greece.

What is my most treasured possession?

On spiritual level I think the most important is my freedom and a sort of lightness in taking life with humor. My inner peace.

On material level I love my little studio-house in the Italian countryside with its wild garden, my books, antiques and artworks, especially the sculptures made by my daughter.

What is my most marked characteristic?

The spirituality, a poetic, meditative way to live the present and to see things from different perspectives.

What is my most inspirational location, in my city?

The view of the Ponte di Tiberio, a roman bridge, seen from the Parco Marecchia, the Darsena, the beach in winter, Borgo San Giuliano with it’s small colourful fisherhouses, the first floor of the City Museum with the ‘Compianto di Cristo’ by Giovanni Bellini, the farmer market on Friday.

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

I love to eat in a little Ramen Restaurant, or at Angolo Divino in Borgo San Giuliano or at Agrofficina near the Castel Sismondo.

To drink at Bar Lento or at Bar La Brezza.

What book influenced my life and how?

I can’t decide for only one book. For different motivations all of these books are necessary to my soul and influenced my perspective of intellectual, emotional and spiritual life:

The catcher in the rye (Salinger), American Dust (Brautigan), Voyage au debout de la nuit (Céline), Triology of the city of K. (Kristoff), the Aleph (Borges), Barney’s Version (Richler),The dance of reality (Jodorowsky), The Soul’s code (Hillman), Jules et Jim (Roché), Autobiography of a Yogi (Yogananda), Shortstories of Borchert.

You only die once. What music would I listen on my last day?

The compilation of my last day should contain a song from: Paolo Conte, Franco Battiato, George Harrison, Jeff Buckley, Nick Cave, Damon Albarn, Tom Waits, Dirty Beaches, Timber Timbre, Radiohead, David Bowie, Arcade Fire, Kate Bush, Portishead, Goldfrapp, Beirut, Kurt Weil…

Some opera music from Puccini and Wagner, and symphonic music from Prokoffiev, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Debussy, Albinoni, Respighi….

Who is my hero/heroine in fiction?

As a child my absolute heroine was Pippy Longstocking for her absence of fear and for her humor which makes all possible. Now it is the professor in Dead Poet Society.

Who are my heroes and heroines in real life?

Generally my heroes and heroines are humans who are resilient, open hearted, sincere, peaceful, kind, wise or passionate, sacredly crazy and courageous. Humans who preserve and defend the beauty of our planet, the nature and environment, the right of every being to be happy and safe, the art and creative expression.

Often they are poets, dreamers, visionaries, travelers, artists, philosophers, gardeners, activists, ecologists, writers, teachers, shamans….

Some names are famous, such as Sebastiao Salgado, Vandana Shiva, Nellie Bly, Nikolas Tesla, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Frida Kahlo, Hundertwasser, Thich Nhat Hanh, Gino Strada, Wolfgang Borchert, Saint Franziskus, John Muir, Ramana Maharshi and so many others.

Some are not famous, but they are heroes for me, like my German grandparents who lived as Non-Nazis in Nazi Germany, my friend Micha who has worked for 30 years as a nurse in Africa and Afghanistan , also a special mention to my beloved art teachers Fiorenza de Angelis, Ale Hesselink, Stefania Guerra-Lisi and Meera Hashimoto who taught me how to be myself making art.

Which movie would I recommend to see once in lifetime?

The Salt of the Earth by Sebastiao Salgado

Biutiful by Inarritu

What role plays art in my life and work?

The whole life is in a way an art masterpiece, art can be everywhere, it is a way to live, a quality how to look at the things.

What do the words ‘You are the storyteller of your own life’ to me?

I think they mean that you can create moment by moment your reality. You are the actor not the victim, if you are consciously responsible for all you create and what happens to you.

Who is my greatest fan, sponsor, ‘partner in crime’?

In a way all my painting students, people who appreciate my artwork and become my collectors, my friends and my daughter for the constructive ‘critique’. Partner in crime were the members of Collettivo Arteda, a multimedia group of artists and performers, and the therapists with whom I collaborate to create workshops and residencies.

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

Gallerie Flash (Munich), The Ballery (Berlin), Galleria Giovanni Bonelli (Milano), Michele von Bueren (Rome), Allouche Gallery (New York),Galerie Guido Romero Pierini (Paris), Gallery Wetterling (Sweden), Michel Gondry, Bjork.

I would like to work with people and companies to create a network in the spirit of dialogue art-nature

Which people in my profession who can make a real difference in my creative career would I love to meet in 2020?

Artists whose style, technique, and message I admire, such as Katinka Lampe, Joseba Eskubi, Adrian Ghenie, Lou Ros, Adam Lee, Neo Rauch.

What project ,in 2020, am I looking forward to work on?

I would like to create a shared studio space with artists who work together, on the big theme of the human in dialogue with nature.

In that space it would be possible to work, make exhibitions , studio visits,

workshops, residencies, conferences, projections, concerts ,atelier for the citizens and festivals. Nature should be the central point.

In 2020 I would like to make a residency in Japan, India or Scandinavia.

Continue the personal research of magical surrealism, and bring my walking paintings flash mobs in cities like New York, Tokyo, London, Paris, Milan, Lisbon, Berlin, Amsterdam.

Where can you see me and my work in 2020?

I will appear in a project by Italian Photographer Francesca Cesari about German artists who live in Italy, probably in an online-magazine.

If the complicated times we live permit it I hope to show my new paintings in a gallery, probably in Rome.

Make a show of my project of art on clothes, with some unique wearable art pieces.

What do the words ‘Passion never retires’ mean to me?

It means that fortunately if you love doing something you never become too old for it, and art is the best example for that.

Which creative heroines should Peter invite to tell their story?

Molly Astley, Johanna Invrea (Iranacredi), Sabrina Foschini, Francesca Cesari, Pamela Casadio, Alice Tamburini, Judith Saron, Loren Erdrich, Maja Ruznic, Sahaja Kunkunate, Linda Paganelli. 

How can you contact me?

www.instagram.com/alexainvrea

alexainvrea@hotmail.it

www.facebook.com/alexainvrea

Here follows a message of Peter de Kuster, founder of The Heroine’s Journey