Elisa Belloni's puppets, creatures between visual narratives, stories and legends

Elisa Belloni is an artist whose creative vision is distinguished by a strongly multidisciplinary and multimedia approach. Her career is nourished by an ongoing exploration of artistic techniques, from traditional arts to stop-motion to children’s illustration. Over the years, he has collaborated with Stefano Bessoni, an experience that sparked his passion for creating animatable puppets. From this technical and conceptual approach came her interest in the Genius Loci, which is one of the central elements of her artistic production. Elisa Belloni is also a teacher of Graphic Design, Photography and Art Workshop, a role she undertook to share her experience with new generations. Belloni’s works, which range between visual narratives, stories and legends, are the result of a dialogue between the artistic and environmental contexts. His creations, particularly the puppets, are an expression of a bridge between the visible and invisible worlds and give an original look at reality and identity. His work fits within an artistic landscape rich in influences, from Bosch to Kahlo, Lynch to Fellini, but with an approach that always remains personal and dreamlike. Some of his puppets will also be exhibited at Cactus Gallery in Los Angeles, with which he has been collaborating for nearly a decade.

NC. Tell me about your artistic journey: where did you study and how did you get interested in art?

EB. As a child, my worldview was confused by the arrival of my uncle from Paris. He lived there with Cárdenas and worked as his assistant. Along with them was Francis Bacon, whom they had met in an already extravagant context. They were three imposing men with marble hands and deep looks. Despite my young age, they came to me with questions and explanations, which is rare in adult conversations. One day my father and I walked into their studio and he said, “This is art.” In that context I understood art and love, realizing that it was something very different from what I had been told. Art immediately seemed wonderful to me and living through it even more so. That encounter therefore changed many things in my life. Since then I have followed a traditional artistic path, attending Art High School and the Academy of Fine Arts. I never had any doubts about my path. Ever since I was a child, I have chosen art as a way of life, and although the path remains uncertain, I have realized that the multimedia and multidisciplinary approach indulges my curiosity and desire to explore unexplored artistic paths. And so it is for me. I have taken courses and masters in children’s illustration, photography, video art and stop-motion. These are the languages with which I compare myself and try to make connections. I had the opportunity to study and work with Maestro Stefano Bessoni in the world of stop-motion, from which my passion for creating animatable puppets was born.

How has your personal and work experience influenced the way you teach art?

I currently teach Graphic Design, Photography and Art Workshop at Livorno High School of Art, an extraordinary experience that began last year. Before devoting myself to teaching, I worked for over ten years as a Visual Designer in various communication companies. I chose to teach in order to put myself out there and pass on my experiences to new generations, and I firmly believe in this choice. Seeing my students grow and become professionals is a great satisfaction. For the past 20 years, I have also been the guardian of my mother, who lives with a disability. This responsibility has led me to reflect deeply on life and to come into contact with a world of rehabilitation centers, malpractice, aphasia, and people with so much to teach. Among them is La Pina, who showed me how one can live fully even without moving anything but one’s eyes. She, to me, represents courage and strength. With this background, I try to pass on to my students a passion for art and creativity, encouraging them to explore their own potential and transform ideas into meaningful and original works. I believe that art is a journey of discovery and personal growth, and I am here to guide them on this extraordinary adventure.

What are the foundations on which your artistic practice is based?

In my work I try to create a cathartic beauty capable of looking at the world with new eyes and going beyond superficiality. I am not interested in beauty that is limited to the mediocrity of a purely material aesthetic, but a beauty that can verge on the monstrous, while maintaining as its ultimate goal that of arousing emotions through sensitivity and the senses. My goal is to create a mediation between matter and spirit, returning through art a vision capable of transcending appearance and grasping the uniqueness of everything, within a path of self-knowledge that aims at the attainment of the higher self. Beauty, for me, comes from the harmony that arises from the union of sounds, colors and movements. It is from the superposition of these elements that wonder is generated. This is why mine is a multimedia and multidirectional approach, based on traditional and digital art techniques. My artistic vision does not stop at the surface, but seeks to connect with the deep fibers of human existence and that engages viewers in complex reflections. Despite this, I never lose sight of the importance of play and contact with our inner child, a lesson I learned from the great master Bruno Munari.

What are the central concepts you explore most in your works?

My artistic production is the tangible expression of my vision, which is based on the idea of a bridge between the visible and the invisible. Through my puppets I strive to bring to life figures that embody the concept of the Genius Loci, acting as mediators and carriers of inspiration. Each puppet is born from a creative process that feeds off its surroundings and, at the same time, nurtures it as a gift that dialogues with the world around it. In my art, I try to rediscover and enhance the communion between environment and artistic creation, convinced that both should merge to give birth to a collective reality of higher quality. Puppets represent for me a concrete attempt to unite art and environment, encapsulating complex concepts through their visual expressions and narratives. The narratives take shape from stories, fairy tales and legends, sometimes popular, other times alchemical or mystical, which provoke deep suggestions and reflections in me. I was born in a nineteenth-century village, populated by sailors, pirates, brigands, partisans and burghers, a place full of adventures, merry-go-rounds, power plants and unknown castles, all overlooking the La Spezia sea. Yet, I never lived there. In my first three years of life, I lived in Albiano Magra, Milan, Switzerland and Carrara, despite the fact that it is said that a child should not move too much to put down roots. On the contrary, photos from my childhood often depict me sleeping on trains, accompanied by my father, a proud proletarian railroader from the 1970s, with a mustache and V-shirts, who loved to take me with him or see me waving to the train when it passed. Then my parents decided to return “to our places,” and we moved to Luni Mare. Whoever is born between the sea, mountains and marble cannot but be a strange person, and in the 1980s in Luni Mare there were indeed a lot of strange people to take inspiration from. Whole packs, we might say. We children, however, were distant from it all, obsessed with only three things: the ancient city of Lunae, Ceccardo Roccatagliata Ceccardi and the stele statues. We must have taken so many field trips, meetings, recited poems from memory and made drawings that, if there had been the Internet, we would have filled Luni with content, and someone would have made a fortune with Google Ads. But at that time, the only network we knew was that of our fathers, who went fishing. Out of these experiences came my love for stories.

Is there a distinctive element in your artistic production? What significance does it have for you?

Through my works, I try to construct a microcosm that goes beyond the visible surface, connecting to the deep fabric of human existence. My productions explore the intersection of physical form and symbolic meaning, aiming to engage and inspire viewers to reflect on the complexity of the world around us. My sources of inspiration are numerous artists, including Hieronymus Bosch, Vasily Vasil’evič Kandinsky, Frida Kahlo, Anselm Kiefer, Marina Abramović, Tim Burton, David Lynch, Jan Švankmajer, and Federico Fellini. Although they are so different from each other, they are united by a dreamlike and personal imagery that continues to influence my artistic vision. I would like to emphasize the diversity of my practice, which results in an interdisciplinary and unique approach to art. All of this allows me to explore complex concepts and create works that challenge traditional artistic conventions.

What projects are you currently working on?

I am currently working on two main creative fronts: photography and puppet making. My photography project The Spirits of the Apuan Alps, which I proudly bring to various exhibitions, represents a significant part of my work and an intimate research into the peculiarities of the Apuan landscape. In parallel, I am working on the construction of various puppets for my first animated short film. My skills in the design and construction of articulated puppets, combined with the use of innovative materials and advanced techniques, allow me to create animated characters and objects with a high level of detail and expressiveness. I have acquired specific skills in creating internal skeletons, joints and details that ensure maximum flexibility and movement of puppets during filming. Some of them will be exhibited in Los Angeles at Cactus Gallery, with whom I have been collaborating for almost ten years. The project marks a remarkable milestone in my journey, as this year I was also selected by the Australian magazine Beautiful Bizarre, a leading publication in the field of contemporary art. International collaborations, such as the one with New York, where I brought my puppets to a global audience, are a confirmation for me of the value of my work in the international art context.

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