COSTANZA STARRABBA AKA STARRENCO

In this interview, we delve into the world of COSTANZA STARRABBA AKA STARRENCO, who share her inspirations and unique perspectives.

Olimpia Taliani de Marchio

1. Introduce Yourself to the Casawi Community: What drives you? What's your artistic vision, and what sets you apart from the crowd?

My creative search is based on wanting to represent an alternative version of the reality we all know. Therefore, as an illustrator, I paint a universe that follows my own rules. In this universe, perspective and shapes adhere to different principles, and bodies and objects intertwine, overlap, and merge to give the sense of a unique and complex movement. This movement is a way of interpreting the space around me.

In this universe, where I often like to hide, the key theme is femininity, represented not only through the body but also through movements, shapes, curves, and shadows. The concept of femininity permeates every element, eventually invading everything. It is an involuntary search, driven by the need to portray my body as one of many others, a constant observation of forms that intertwine and change continuously, just like the female body is accustomed to doing. We are in constant metamorphosis, and this is the core of my work: telling the story of the change to which both the body and the gaze are perpetually subjected.

2. City Inspirations: How has your city influenced your artistic path? Share how its streets, culture, and energy have molded your work.

Milan is quite a gray city, yet it has given me more than I could have imagined. It welcomed me and gave me the space to create. Cities are also made by people, and it's thanks to the people I met when I moved here three years ago that I was able to give new breath to my work. Milan is a very fast city, sometimes too fast; its dynamism is a great asset, but at times I feel like I’m running without knowing exactly where I want to go. However, in the end, the contamination happened, and I find myself in this city that I didn’t choose, but that chose me. I have a strange relationship with it. Milan has a liquid personality and an incredible ability to give.

I perceive Milan as a self-made woman who also happens to be your boss. She’s had Botox and wears gold jewelry; she’s never fully grown up, even though she works hard. She knows how to have fun and has good taste. She was never truly beautiful, but she’s definitely intelligent.

3. Creative Process: What fuels your creativity? Whether it's a ritual, a muse, or a moment of clarity, we're keen to learn.

When I draw, paint, and color, I enter a sort of meditative state, a parallel universe where I’m anchored to reality only through my hands, while my mind is elsewhere, floating far away in the colours and details. When I return to myself, it always takes me a moment to reconnect with reality, when I’m finished. Even though sometimes, nothing is ever really finished; I could go on forever. Drawing for me is a solitary activity, where there must be order and silence around me. It is a kind of ritual, accompanied by a series of gestures, habits, and repetitive actions that create the space I enter.

The creative process, however, often happens outside of my control. Sometimes I go through periods when I draw less, and it is during these times that I absorb. I seem inactive, as if my creativity is in a state of rest. Yet, those are the moments when I take in everything around me, recovering the energy needed and preparing for the next project, even if I don’t know what it will be. During these times, I may have countless ideas, but I still wait. I nurture them, cradle them, and gather them internally, waiting for the right moment. Often, after these periods, the drawing I produce carries with it all the things I collected during the wait, and I only realize it when the work is finished.

4. City Lifestyle and Art: How the places you lived influenced your career and work?

I come from a small, very small village in the Marche countryside. My identity was born in Offagna. I grew up there, surrounded by nature, and I was fortunate to have, from a young age, the opportunity to cultivate my relationship with the natural world and to enjoy the freedom provided by the vast, open spaces of the countryside. Since I was a child, I’ve always drawn what surrounded me, turning drawing into my medium of communication. One of my greatest privileges was living near the sea and being able to enjoy it both in summer and winter. Then, I moved to Rome, where I lived for nearly seven years. I deeply loved Rome; it gave me a sense of both beauty and ugliness. It gave me a beautiful place to live, where every morning I would wake up thinking about how happy I was to live in such a stunning yet cursed place. I loved Rome, but she didn’t love me back. Unlike Milan, Rome is a lady who knows she was once beautiful, knows she is loved, but doesn’t give much in return except her company. It’s a company I still miss, but it was a one-sided relationship.

5. Latest or Upcoming Projects: Give us a glimpse into your current endeavors and what lies ahead on your creative journey.

Much of my work is digital painting, and because of this, I’ve recently felt a longing for analog mediums and the desire to return to painting. I enjoy getting my hands dirty, and going back to where I started is always a useful and complex exercise. I learned to paint in university and then dedicated myself solely to screens of different sizes and shapes. Now, I feel the need to touch the material with my hands and play with it. I’m currently working on a canvas, a personal and somewhat sentimental project—a one-on-one encounter between me and the canvas—where I am rediscovering the path and gestures I had forgotten, creating something that remains with me, something less immediate, less shareable. It is not finished yet. Will it ever be? Probably not.