Moving through the underground studio just off piazza Santa Trinita, we catch glimpses of the dervish of projects in action: “This is my work on mazes; here it’s about wombs and tombs.” The topics that may seem heavy are treated with Vittoria Colonna’s “cosmic clowning”, a concept she explains while sitting on the ground and holding a gilded mirror in front of her face, the glass turned towards each of us before we are taken through room after room of colourful creations.
Picking up fabric worked on by her mother, a needle still threaded and looped through the cloth, she holds it tenderly and shares its personal significance before placing a cup of Irish tea in our hands as we sit down to speak, the clink and comfort of home providing the starting point for a chat around Vittoria’s dual Irish-Italian identity.
Growing up in the Wicklow countryside in Ireland and in Italy, her studies were at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome and Dublin’s esteemed Gaiety School of Acting. In the countryside of Ashford, Vittoria absorbed the skills and philosophical querying of her mother, Frances, and father, Prospero, returning to Florence during the pandemic and honing her crafts in the eclectic and exciting space that holds pompoms and “dream sticks” in every corner. One such dream stick is held throughout our interview, the creations having come from branches of chestnut trees in Orsigna that were set to be burned. It spurs a discussion around where creativity comes from: “I believe we are vessels for ideas; they come through us, and we need to collaborate. These severed branches were called suckers because they suck life out of a tree, but there’s still the energy of a live tree inside them. These elements of nature and spirituality I transformed into an art installation in the Female Arts of Florence space, creating a kind of tree of life. I’ve built up this concept called Shamanka, or female Shaman, and whatever is downloaded through this Shamanka is what I produce. It’s very easy to deconstruct and destroy, and much more difficult to construct and create something positive, especially in these times. This is when darkness highlights the lightness. I do it as a healing process, and I hope to generate healing for others along the way.”
International influences are evident all over her work. From travels in India and Egypt to her Irish upbringing, all have come into her reflections on death, the subject of her current work, and a theme that also comes into her Irish language dark comedy 4 Bhanríon (4 Queens) and drama Sandboy that both swept international festivals: “You’re only afraid of death if you’re not living life.” Her latest endeavours are in textiles, with yarn tufts taking shape around us, their abstract forms and bright colours peeping out of playful Joana Vasconceles-esque pieces, an artist she quotes as an inspiration.
“Working with textiles is something I started a couple of years ago. In Los Angeles, I started making pompoms because I couldn’t move my neck for two weeks, so I decided to wear these crazy pompuccio instead of a brace, and then it became really popular. I would get a bunch of women to come over and we’d start telling stories, which is like what our ancestors would do, especially women. We have a history of textile art. In an age when people are freaking out about AI, at the end of the day it’s the experience and the process that makes you want to create. When you use your hands, you’re waking up your heart.”
An artist, filmmaker, Kundalini yoga teacher and “professional dreamer”, Vittoria Colonna is not the first to bear this name. Her Renaissance ancestor was a poetess and muse to Michelangelo Buonarroti. Quite the legacy to carry forward. Her friendship with Michelangelo was based around a shared passion for art, literature and spirituality. “The name carries weight. It’s a little bit heavy, I won’t deny it. I believe we carry the unresolved, in some sense, but she was a remarkable woman. She was one of the first women to have had her sonnets published. Michelangelo was so distraught when she died that he couldn’t work for two or three years. I sometimes feel if I can free myself from insecurities in this life, I can free her too.”
Dream Weaver by Vittoria Colonna is on display at Serre Torrigiani Tuesday to Sunday 7pm-2am until April 6.
