Meet Bakery Featured Artists (18): Federica Sutti (Fè), an ingenious contemporary artist.
Federica Sutti (Fè), an Italian contemporary artist in an interview session with BakerySwap, talks about her inspirations, struggles, creative processes, and view about NFTs.
Art is about conveying an idea or a feeling that could not be expressed in words so elegantly. Contemporary artists use different materials and mediums in the modern era and find innovative and dynamic ways to communicate their idea. As the art has progressed, Many artists are considering NFT as a new tool in their arsenal.
In this week’s edition, Federica Sutti (Fè), an Italian contemporary artist who talks about her inspirations, struggles, creative processes, and view of NFTs in an interview session with BakerySwap.
Thank you for accepting our invitation. Could you please introduce yourself?
Hello, thank you for having me. I’m Federica Sutti, but you can call me Fè. I’m an Italian artist who is fascinated by the complex and messed-up world we live.
Creating artworks helps me think about contemporary issues, shared dreams, and nightmares. I’m dealing with the themes of diversity, affection during social distancing, human adaptation to technology, and digitalization.
I have a background in industrial design and no pre-concept on what art should be; therefore, I approach each project differently, experimenting freely with different techniques (painting, concrete casting, 3dmodeling and animation, graphic design, etc.). Experimenting with new tools and programs keeps me alive and very happy.
Piero Manzoni inspired one of the NFT you published in Bakeryswap. Who are your biggest artistic influences?
I’d say Warhol for his research on consumerism, press, and pop culture. Besides, Italy has such a vast artistic heritage that it’s hard not to be influenced by that.
In your opinion, can NFT art influence people as much as the traditional medium; Do you see any difference?
Art is art in any case, whether it is digital NFT art or physical.
NFT contract is a tool, a tool with enormous global potential. I think it’s coherent that art and art collecting evolve into their de-materialized NFT version in our highly digitalized era.
NFT art would reflect our time; if Leonardo da Vinci were still alive, he definitely would have been an NFT artist.
NFT art is not niche anymore and has already impacted trends, people, and society. In the last year, I have seen a proliferation of ads, magazines, and book covers aesthetically inspired by the NFT art space.
As an artist, what are you trying to achieve through your art, and are there any challenges you have faced?
I try to speak visually about our present, conveying feelings and thoughts through metaphors-artworks, and find common ground between myself and the viewer.
One of the challenges I faced was during the Covid-19 emergency in Italy. I was quarantined in my apartment, and I felt impotent while doctors and nurses were working non-stop, risking their lives. So I started fundraising. I developed a Kiss Sculpture — a sort of emotional substitute of the gesture of kissing — and with my 3d printer, I printed a limited collection to sell to help the Red Cross face the emergency.
It was such a rewarding experience that my aim for the future is to think more systematically, involving more associations and the public on projects with a positive virtuous impact.
How do you start to create art? What is your creative process like?
There is no standard creative process. Sometimes it’s a conscious and rational path very similar to the design thinking method — this happens when I have an initial objective. Most of the time, I keep my mind engaged with several thoughts — contemporary issues, shared dreams, and desires — and then visions pop up.
My initial thoughts are summed up and materialized into artworks. This is what I call “The contemporary chewed and digested.” Last but not least, I engage in a playful, creative, and unpredictable-outcome process: playing around with tools, matters (or solids if it’s CGI), and embracing the mistake and the not-predicted.
Being open to the unknown and finding potential in mistakes often saves me headaches, a lot of swearing, and extreme perfectionism. All these ways are fundamental to me, and I keep practicing them. It’s like training your muscles. If you want to do something well, you have to exercise!
What is your favourite work so far, and tell us about your next project?
My favourite work so far is “Iconavirus.” It’s a work inspired by our daily exposure to brands: the most iconic pop logos assemble in fierce and threatening facial features, visions of a branding-phobia disorder.
I have a ton of “next projects” that I’m eager to work on. One of the ones I care about the most will be an NFT video talking about Ice Melting and our wrong Anthropocentric attitude
What advice would you give for your younger self if you had a chance?
“Invest in cryptocurrencies as soon as you can!”
Jokes aside, I’d tell my younger self, “Follow the urge to express yourself, commit to it because there is space for your art.”
