Cecilia Piemontese

Cecilia Piemontese creates black and white for the most part; her images give off the vibe of stop motion films everywhere. Interesting variations in depth create a shadowbox effect that is rare amongst many artists in the United States that are working on a more graphic idea in their pieces. Without the distraction of color, she makes great images with plenty of character.

Have you had any formal training in art (what was it, if any)?

I Graduated from the London College of Printing in Graphic Design Illustration. While at University I experimented with all the traditional methods of Printing and design: Screen Printing, Lithography, Photography, Drawing, Collages, and Mix Media. I started learning Animation and computer programmes (Photoshop, After Effects, and Flash) only after finishing my degree.

Are you pretentious enough to call yourself a starving artist?

No I don’t starve, I call my parents first and ask for money or I go to my brother for lunch and dinner.

Do you think you have to suffer for your art?

Well you do end up suffering a bit. In different ways. You suffer because you wake up one morning you look at your artwork and you think ‘this is Shit!’

You suffer because you have to wake up in the morning and go to the office to do a mindless work that you hate but lets you pay the bills.

You suffer because it’s sometimes difficult to find the motivation.

And sometimes I suffer because I disconnect with the world to such a degree that I seldom think I am living in my own head and imagination. I pursue an Idea, I start drawing and walking and imagining things. I travel 20 cm above the ground, and when its time to come back I hit it hard (reality I mean).

Maybe in a way my suffering is part of what I do, it feeds my art.

Are you on any medication?

No…well coffee, sugar and cigarettes in a ridiculous amount.

Do your parents hate that you're an artist?

No, I suppose they like having someone 'artistic' in the family, but I am not sure they would refer to me as an artist, maybe 'artistic', yes. I suppose it’s nice to have one in the family, like the black sheep, it keeps the balance. An artist sounds more like a waist of time, like unemployed. Artistic is someone who benefits from a certain talent.

What was your first big break?

The Animation for the Tour of Pilar Ternera in Italy. From there I came back to London with a 14 minute video animation to show around and started freelancing. It was an important moment in my life mainly because I finally discovered what I wanted to do with myself… and that is not a small thing!

How did you begin creating work?

I started at college but I really got into it when I left. Something about my personality maybe. When I finished college I had this huge sense of relief and I thought ‘Right! Now I can do anything I want, without boundaries, expectations or grades!’ so I started to produce much better work than I did before.

What animal do you most want to pluck from the wild and keep?

Penguins, Polar Bears, Whales and all the mammals that live in the North Pole…. No, I wouldn’t keep them, but I am so fascinated by them. Something about creatures living in the Coldest Loneliest places on Earth! It’s so extreme and solitary but it feels so real at the same time, maybe more real than living in a city. It may seams a sad view but to me it’s not, these animals give me a great sense of freedom.

What does your Sunday routine look like?

This is not very interesting as I work on Sundays, I feel it is the most creative days of all, maybe because everyone is recovering or sleeping or just not doing anything and in a place like London it’s Rare! and you can feel that.. oh my God Sunday mornings are special!

What does your play list for working consist of?

I find it important if I am doing an animation for a band not to listen too much to their song, it is best to leave that for the editing part when you are bound to listen to it a hundred times. So …Anything goes: but really anything! I think last time I was animating a video I was hooked on Sinatra and the Twin Peaks Soundtrack which are nothing like the band I had to do the animation for.

Also cheesy 80s songs with a bit of dancing around the house, good old Grunge, Radio and anything that I find in the house.

What is your favourite combination of two colours?

Dark, Deep Blue (The one you can find on Renaissance Paintings) and Gold

Do you go through any certain processes while trying to produce your work?

The Best thing for me to do at first is to Play and experiment. It is important to take pleasure in what I am doing and relax. Drawing is a good starting point because it broadens my mind and makes me focused and concentrated. I think it also opens up a sort of channel that connects me with my own creativity.

Another important thing is not to stress about the final result or about time schedules, because you can’t schedule and idea! Planning comes later when you already know what you want and need. Creativity has its own course; An Idea can take a long time or come to you suddenly in a second. The important thing is to be connected with it.

Drawing makes me forget about time and it’s a good way to improve my patience. I think it’s a common thing with artists to want the result straight away and to end up frustrated with it.

If I enjoy what I am doing it means that something really good will come out.

If you weren't showing your work, what do you think you'd be doing?

I would be doing documentaries. That’s one thing I would like to get in to one day.

Being an animator I spend most of my time in front of the computer, locked in my room and in my own little world. The work load is so extensive it feels like embarking on an Odyssey..

When I go out to get something in the shop my perception of the things around me doesn’t change: the world feels just like a big extension of my Photoshop and it’s hard to scroll it way.

I project my reality on to things, I observe them constantly and unknowingly I think of ways to reproduce their movement in an artificial world such as my computer. Sometimes I feel like I am living in a dream world of my own invention where virtual reality crashes against the real Reality.

I wish to reverse this process, and start capturing the reality working outside, rather than inside, recording things rather than creating them, working with people rather than with a computer.

I also love watching documentaries: nature, science, culture, history, personal stories. there are so many interesting things out there. I wish there were more documentaries than reality TV. Or more reality TV like Documentaries.

If you had to get a tattoo at gunpoint, what would it be?

a Tree. an Old tree. I love trees. There are so many peculiar trees in London. so weird you wonder how they actually got to reach that shape. I often go out and sketch them. I am really fascinated by them, the way they adapt to the city and become something so unlike their nature. I am fascinated by these Metamorphoses of Nature in an Artificial, Concrete Environment

Had you always planned on being an artist [or had you other hopes]?

What is a better hope than that?

There was a time when I wanted to be an Archeologist.

Where do you think you art will be in the next ten years?

How will the world be in the next 10 years....(?)hmmmm

Don't know...

But I would like to be doing a feature animation film...a mix of graphics, animation and real footage as well as creating Music Animation Videos for

Bands. I wish for my work to be meaningful, touching and human. I want to continue experimenting and playing around with ideas and visuals thought creating something that carries a message. Beauty and substance! I t is important to be part of the century we live in. social, human, environmental issues are close to me.

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