Artist Statement

Growing up between Italy and the United States, I spent many hours on airplanes and became fascinated by the unreality of being able to cover such vast distances (both geographical and cultural) in such a short amount of time. As a multicultural and non-binary person, I use film to explore the complexities of blended identities, tackling the grief of misunderstanding with humor and joy. I am interested in the question of how people come to define themselves, where they come from, and where they belong. My undergraduate studies in visual art and literary arts at Brown University have inspired me to include animated elements in many of my films, which span both narrative and documentary genres.

Language plays an important part in defining identity and memory. Though memories have visual aspects, when we share them with others we have to choose the way in which we communicate these memories through language. For my undergraduate thesis, I used my own cultural mutability as a case study for a more universal exploration of how language shapes memory, belonging, and access. Through layered, abstract oil paintings and etchings with chine-collé elements and quasi-illegible text from my original written work, I sought to visualize the challenges, violence, and humor of translation across language, culture, and time.