Sofia Cacciapaglia (Italian, 1983), was born into an artistic family. Her father a classical composer always supported her decision to pursue the arts which came to her very  naturally.

She studied Fine Art and painting at the Accademia di belle Arti di Brera’ in Milan, where she graduated in 2006. Immediately she moved to New York City and began painting. Soon after, she had her first solo exhibition curated by the photographer Fabrizio Ferri, at INDUSTRIA SUPERSTUDIO. Since she has exhibited in many galleries including; Riccardo Crespi Gallery, a collective exhibition curated by Alessandra Bonomo, a solo exhibition at the Museum della Permanente, Palazzo delle stelline in Milano, pasitficio cerere in Rome as well as a number of charity auctions at Sotheby's. In 2011 she was the youngest artist at the 54° Venice Biennale,  where she exhibited at the Italian pavilion. Currently she is represented in  London at The Palm Tree Gallery, a new gallery in Notting Hill. 

Sofia also has collaborated on many fashion and design projects and believes an artist in today's world needs to be open to these collaborations and should not be afraid to bring their work into other world's especially in an era where there is already so much cross contamination. Some of these collaborations include having designed a sofa that was exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2014 and wallpaper designs. She also had an entire collection dedicated to her work by Caterina Gatta, an incredibly talented fashion designer.  

SOFIA What are your greatest inspirations or influences? 

I'm very tied to Italy, where I'm based and have my studio.. I definitely get a lot of my inspiration from here. I think its a unique atmosphere that cannot be found anywhere else. I feel my work is profoundly Italian, the lines of the figures, the temperature of the colors and the atmospheres that I want to recreate in the works. The faces of my women often have very proud expressions and at the same time they are melancholic like this country. 

I  very much love the great italian artists; both near and far in time who have inspired me over the years and have become like companions on this journey.

• Masters from the past like Piero della Francesca, Rosso Fiorentino, Antonello da Messina, Andrea Mantegna, Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Botticelli... the list is longer.

• and then those in the 20th century like Felice casorati, Giorgio Morandi , Sironi, Giorgio De Chirico, Marino Marini and then more recently in the seventies Mario schifano, Pino Pascali, Alighiero Boetti, Piero Dorazio and many more...

• Above all I definitely love Bonnard, Balthus, Matisse, Picasso, David Hockney, & fRancis bacon.

Tell us about your new exhibition.

The exhibition inaugurates Today, on sunday 16th of July and will be on show all summer until 15th September and is in the council of Fortunago, a very pretty ancient village near Pavia. The exhibition is curated by the painter Pino Jelo.  

Pino has been a great teacher for me over the years. The title of the painting is suspended.. its a title that specifically refers to the works on display. For the exhibition I have selected 10 large paintings. The figures in my work seem to emerge from a dream world, suspended in time and space. The focus of my research is the female figure which appear to hold each other up, help each other and the connecting thread is human contact and the weaving of bodies like silent and secret conversations.

My work definitely starts with me even if the subject is a flower or the female form for me it has to be intimate and convey self-observation. Its symbolic and doesn't recall much reality. Its not at all conceptual, its doesn't start with an idea as such but comes from nowhere, it’s purely instinctive and emotional.

For me art is primarily about a sacred sense of life. 

Sofia Most interesting response to your work so far?

In a world where everything is ‘visible’ the ‘invisible’ captures the feeling more then the eye, I get very happy to hear when people like my work and have felt something. In this time when contemporary art is and can be anything.

Favorite websites, publications or social media handles that you enjoy to follow?

I’m not that much into technology, the social media that I use the most is Instagram as its important for people who work with images to promote their work on this platform. 

What would be a dream project for you? 

I would like to make a new series of work using ceramics. I think that white ceramics could be a perfect material for my subjects. And I’d like to have studios in different locations so that I could work from different locations, such as M’hamid, a small town that is one of the gates to the Sahara desert. Or on a volcanic island like Stromboli in Sicily…or Mexico City. Seeing as people often see a connection between my work and Mexico!