Paola Carbonaro

Paola, as a graphic designer with Sicilian heritage now residing in Milan, how do your roots and the Milanese environment shape your approach to illustration? Are there specific elements of your native Sicily that emerge in your works?

There is often something of Sicily in my works. Even the stylistic choice to maintain a fairly marked outline around the figures and the lines used for details, derive from Sicilian painting of plates and carts, which visually accompanied my entire childhood. Additionally, my connection with water, particularly the sea, remains profound. In fact, the sea has often been a protagonist, blending with the female figures of my work. The Milanese environment, more than influencing my artwork, has impacted me personally. It instilled in me the courage to share my drawings with others, a significant shift from when I used to keep them private. It also provided the opportunity to take myself seriously and embark on a professional journey in this field.

Having accumulated a decade of experience in graphic design, the lockdown in 2020 marked a pivotal moment in your pursuit of drawing more earnestly. How did this period of isolation affect your artistic practice and your identity as an illustrator?

I have always drawn since I was very young, but let’s say that the context around me never helped me to seriously consider the possibility of pursuing a career as an illustrator. During the lockdown, I felt the need to share what I put on paper, and so my page “Carbo Illustrazioni” was born. In this period of forced confinement, I managed to make a turn and define my works with a recognisable style. Moreover, the first collaborations were born thanks to Instagram and various projects to describe one’s quarantine. I must say that this external push was fundamental to give me the charge to pursue this path.

You started drawing in black and white, but later embraced vivid colours, stating that you have “a soul that is too colourful”. How do you choose colours for your illustrations and what role do they play in communicating the emotions and introspections you intend to express?

I don’t use a “fixed” colour palette, but I am guided by the feeling of the moment. Often even the weather, sun or rain, influence the choice of colours as much as my mood. I really like to change, to try tone on tone, slight nuances, or to combine contrasting colours. I certainly have colours and combinations that I prefer and use more frequently, but they are colors that I feel inside. There is no rational reasoning or specific methodology, but rather an instinctive choice. I would say that it is my emotions that play the main role and the colours “suffer” them.

The female figure and “the home” are often at the centre of your work. What drives you to explore these recurring themes, and how do you interpret them through your style? What symbolic significance do these elements hold in your illustrations?

The female figure is central to all my illustrations because, as a woman, I find we are a landscape of endless exploration. My female characters serve as alter egos, enabling me to express my emotions; they are the conveyors of my innermost thoughts. Regarding the theme of “home”, my family ties are incredibly significant, but the depth of these connections became truly apparent only after I moved away. I have always had the desire to change cities: Catania was like a dress that was too tight. Certainly, Milan did not welcome me with a warm embrace, and I had great periods of loneliness, which led me to consider even the idea of returning to my loved ones or changing cities again, to look for “my place”. I felt I did not belong anywhere and often lost. For this reason, in my illustrations, the home is a theme I often address, not always and necessarily as a physical place, but rather as something that makes you feel safe. However, today I thank Milan because we have learned to smile at each other, it has taught me to be tenacious, but above all, I have built my family.

You describe your illustrations as “small colour introspections,” hinting at a process of selfdiscovery through drawing. Tell us about this concept! It is exactly so: my illustrations are born from a process of emotional self-exploration. From the need to be able to visualise what I feel, to give it a shape, a colour, to tell an emotion, a story. I draw as a means of communicating with myself, to process and confront my daily experiences, to share with others, and to allow someone to see a reflection of themselves in my work.

Contacts: @carbo_illustrazioni