Irene Raspollini has come to be recognized for her rosy cheeked characters. Born in Siena, Italy in 1982, and currently based in Tuscany, Raspollini showed artistic tendencies from an early age, though she admits it took her some time before she trained professionally.
“As a self-taught artist, my practice evolved a bit randomly at the beginning,” she told Artsy Shark. “As soon as I decided to take my art more seriously, I worked systematically to improve my skills, and above all to find my own style and narrative.”
Now a full time professional artist, her portraits have been exhibited extensively in Italy, UK, Mexico, China, Taiwan, Russia, USA and Austria. She also features in public and private collections all over the world.
Her work has also won her accolades. Raspollini was one of the “excellence finalists” of ART Revolution Taipei International artists Grand Prize Competition, and was awarded the invitation to show her paintings at the International Artists Salon at ART Revolution Taipei in 2019.
Influenced by pop culture and kitsch, her work has an experimental edge to it. While working mainly on paper and canvas, with her favorite mediums being acrylics and watercolors, Raspollini says she’s open to every kind of creative experimentation.
“When I was invited to Mexico for my first solo show outside Italy in 2018, I had the chance to learn how to create tile mosaics thanks to Mexican master muralist Cienfuegos,” she recalled. “I’m absolutely in love with this technique.”
Her characters, though urban looking, are often surrounded by natural elements. “Living in a small village lost in the Tuscany woods has probably played a large part in this aspect of my art,” admits Raspollini. Other sources of inspiration include the ’80s with its Kitsch movement and playful aesthetics. You’d want to check her out.
