Alice Massone is an Italian photographer and artist who mainly deals with the visual representation of still life, portrait and fashion.
Her research mainly unravels between surrealism and metaphysics, taking inspiration from cinema, and literature books, from what it concerns the human being, more precisely from neurological disorders.
She lives and works in Milan.
Walk us through your academic experience. How do you think your education shaped your career?
I attended high school in a small town in Piedmont. I was already fond of photography, but I didn't really believe that this could become a real job.
However, studying languages made me understand that words were not enough for me to communicate my ideas.
After my high school diploma, I started studying Photography in the faculty of Visual Arts at the IED School in Milan. My personal and learning experience there was challenging and incredibly self-reflective.
What is indispensable while working in your studio?
Firstly, I do not own a real studio, but I work in my home studio. I created a place where my work and daily life can coexist.
However, I have a precise routine before starting to work. My routine consists in doing breakfast, having a shower, dressing casually, and preparing coffee to drink during the work session. This is for sure indispensable to set my mind into productive mode.
I would also add to the indispensable items in my studio my notebook with all my sketches and ideas.
Who are your favorite artists and who are the ones that built your creative imaginary?
I found it difficult to find a mentor. I have however several artists, more, or less famous, that inspired me and continue to do so over time.
This is my list: Duane Michals for his approach to emotionality and storytelling, Francisco Goya for the incredible pathos and invitation to reflection, Luis Bunuel for the contribution to the art of the absurd and the visual language, Kim Noble and Yayoi Kusama because they're been capable to take their disorder to an incredible level of communication, Michael Pudelka for his incredible creative vision he put in fashion representation, Umberto Eco for his insane way to bring communication to a whole new level of comprehension, Stanley Kubrick for his unique aesthetic view. Vasili Kandinskij for being a real renovator and reflecting the new world into art, Irving Penn and Edward Weston. But also - even if far from each other temporarily but so close for their use of lights, Petra Collins for her way to translate the present of the new generations through moving images and Jared Pike for his awkward interpretation of the liminal concept, Daniel Arsham for his big talent of making art and pop culture meeting and transforming each other.
What is your relationship with social media and how do you use them?
I do like social media and I've been using them since the very beginning as I am a Gen Z kid. I am part of the generation that has been using social media enough to appreciate the medium and learn every day how to use it to your advantage, but even enough to understand the negative side of them. As an active user, I mainly post about my works, my thoughts about art, and the activities I do as a photographer, I share my visual inspirations too. I also use them in a productive way even as a passive user, for example when I scroll through them in my free time, I always follow people who inspire me to do my best, trying to learn only the positive things I want to bring in my life, but also to keep me informed about the news in general, and about all the trends (socially speaking, not only fashion ones). I love following creators from different fields because I believe that inspiration can come from everyone, for example, makeup creators, illustrators, painters, 3D artists, musicians, etc.
How do you research materials for your creative process?
The simplest way to do research in terms of direct visual inspiration is for sure to observe a lot. Could be scrolling on social media, could be an exhibition, a book, a movie, or a tv series, everything that could send you a message in a creative way is allowed. I am a fashion and art magazine collector and they are a great source of inspiration for me.
Then the creative process starts when you absorb them and make them yours, re-elaborate them to create a new organism. This is all about the way of creating things and taking inspiration from a finished product.
A different approach is when you get inspiration from a thing that's not supposed to communicate a story in itself instead. In order to do so, creativity can arise from an object: as an artist very into metaphysical representation, I usually go to vintage markets, DIY stores, vintage fairs, etc to find the most unique objects that have nothing to do with art in itself, but can take on meaning inside the work I'm going to create with them as subjects. I can define myself as a very crafty person, so I'm very used to creating my own props with very simple materials I find in DIY stores or in nature (plants, rocks, etc...).
