Paola Boni

My name is Paola Boni and I am a hyper realistic artist. I was born in Colorno (Parma), where I live and work.

I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Commerce, and for years I worked in the family business. I was in charge of the administration, but I felt like I was trapped. I was very unhappy. Until I decided to follow my strongest desire: to work every day with colors. Now when I paint or draw, I feel like I am catapulted into another dimension. Time simply evaporates.

I started my artistic career in 2005. I am very active on the international art scene; I have exhibited in solo and group exhibitions as well as in national and international exhibitions in various Italian and foreign cities.

I express in my art the passion for detail using different techniques.

DIABOLIK

My passion for drawing has been part of my life since I was a child, and thanks to Lesley Harrison’s book “Painting Animals That Touch the Heart”, I fell in love with pastel painting. Being very meticulous in reproducing details, I have thus discovered oil and acrylic painting as a mean to satisfy my requirements, even if I am constantly looking for new techniques to make my subjects ever more realistic, by experimenting with new two and three-dimensional possibilities.

I think I’ve always had a passion for art and Hyperrealism. To help you understand why I say this, I’ll tell you about an incident that happened to me when I was at school. I can remember it as if were yesterday.

POPEYE

One day, my teacher gave me a picture of a bas-relief to be copied at home. When she looked at my drawing, she angrily told me that I had traced it. On hearing that, my best friend came to my defence, telling her that it was not true. Then she tested me, giving me another photo to copy, in class. I set about my task and once I had finished, the teacher loocked at it in disbelief, apologized and complimented me.

My work comes from the observation of the reality that surrounds me. I am a curious observer and I paint what intrigues me.

My characteristic is the meticulous rendering of details. I love painting with oil, acrylic and graphite pencil.

CONFUSION

I am a hyper realistic painter attracted by used world and abandoned objects that become my subjects like, for example, candy cards, crushed cans… or crumpled page of books, newspaper or comic books. You can see in many of my works the presence of comic book. These subjects are close to my life since I was a child. Even today I read comics because they help me to escape from reality and bad thoughts. One day I realized that while I was painting candy cards, I did not feel enthusiastic, and thought I had to change or add something to my canvas. I tried to include the comics, and I noticed that not only did my enthusiasm return, but there was something else…

Sometimes, I’m inspired to create by simple reflection on a common object or a crumpled or torn piece of paper, and my inspiration comes from there I was having fun whilst painting. When I see people who look at my works with admiration, who are photographed next to a comic book of Tex Willer, or buy a work with satisfaction, it fills me with joy. It makes me very happy to be able to glimpse the smile of a child, a teenager or an adult.

TEX WILLER

I had a difficult adolescence and I found, in painting, the possibility of feeling alive. Painting and creating another reality allowed me to overcome very serious health problems. I suffered from eating disorders (anorexia). When I paint, like when I’m with my dogs, I am in a different world made of immediacy, happiness, spontaneity when all the superstructures collapse and I can be in contact with that part of myself that has been hidden for a while and can now come out in the form of color, details and harmony.

Roy Lichtenstein is one artist who inspired me greatly. I love all his works. When I have the chance to admire his works, I am always fascinated. You can observe in some of my paintings aspects of Hyperrealism and aspects of Pop Art, because they are the two artistic currents that I love most.

The piece I’m most fond of is hanging on my bedroom wall. It’s a portrait of Wile E. Coyote riding a Red Bull chasing the Road Runner. I really love it. It manages to make me smile, even when I’m angry. I think Instagram is the social media that has been most useful for my art. It helped me to become known outside Italy.

My dream project is to be able to exhibit my work in some important galleries in the United States and be able to pave my way into the large American market. In Italy Hyperrealism is well known, but art galleries find it hard to open their doors to hyper-realistic artists for two reasons: in the first place is that most of them are focused on historicized artists, and the second is the amount of time it takes for a work to be created.

HULK’S CHRISTMAS

I hope my work will be exhibited all over the world in future. It is probably a risky dream, but if we stop dreaming, we also stop living. Dreams help us to move forward, even in the face of looming defeat.

DISCOVER MORE

www.paolaboni.eu