Chiara Magni is a 31 years old professional painter from Italy.
Recently, I had the opportunity to talk to Chiara and we talked in length about why she devotes her time and paintings to body positivity.
Today, we learn why Chiara devotes her paintings to body positivity.
1. Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
My name is Chiara Magni, I am 31 years old and I am a professional painter. I was born and still live in the north of Italy by the beautiful Garda Lake, it is quite a unique place in Italy and a great source of inspiration for me. I specialize in the FINGER PAINTING technique.
2. How do you avoid burnout and stay productive while painting?
Well while in the process of painting, meaning while I am actively working on the canvas, it is impossible for me to get tired or bored. I would do very long painting sessions without having the conception of time, this happens almost every time I’m working on some piece. The other day I began painting at 9 am (after having had an abundance of coffee) and at 5 pm I went like “Oh I wonder if it is almost lunchtime”… well, it was almost dinner time! I read that this happens to many painters; and it is the same for me, while in the process of creating we lose contact with the actual environment and with reality, we don’t feel the physical needs, we just paint. So it is basically impossible to get tired of this process as it is one of the best feelings ever.
3. How do you get over anxiety?
For a while painting itself has been a source of anxiety. When I was much younger I approached this adventure with the wrong frame of mind, I was scared and anxious; I would wonder if I could make it, I would never feel adequate, felt like I was not welcome amongst “the painters”.
For some reason, I decided to continue and not give up. The more I painted the more I felt confident in myself, and little by little the anxiety made room for the joy! The defeats decreased and the wins increased! It all became an amazing game, worthy to be played. So to answer your question, painting went from being the reason for my anxiety to being the cure!
4. I’ve heard people call you the woman who paints women, why’s that?
Yes, it is true. Well, I do paint a lot of female nudes and a lot of portraits. There is something amazing in the beauty of women and I need to paint it. A special feeling of satisfaction pervades me when I am working on such a subject. This is something not even planned, at some point, about 5 years ago, I was facing this white canvas, was not a big one, was like 30x40cm, the white canvas was staring back at me. I took some oil paint and just let my heart drive me. I did a fast sketch of the side view of a breast, it was simple but unmistakable. I finished it voraciously in a few hours. It felt so right; it felt like I was meant for that, I felt so lucky to be able to paint that from a woman’s viewpoint with the full respect for us women. It was a new feeling for me and I just never stopped ever since. All of my nudes and portrait gets sold very fast. I believe that my collectors can perceive the love I put while creating these paintings. So yes, that nickname defines me perfectly.
5. A lot of women get body shamed every day. How do you plan to change that through your paintings?
When I was a kid and a teen, I was bullied a lot and this caused me quite some stress and introversion; lucky enough, I’ve learned very fast to not give a damn. At the same time, I feel for all the women out there getting bullied, humiliated and not feeling beautiful. Women are used to enduring all kinds of pain; mental and physical, and sadly enough, all kinds of abuses too.
To me, women represent beauty, regardless of what body shape they have. One of my goals as an artist is to celebrate the aesthetics and amazingness of the female body and I am totally committed to this.
6. Which of your paintings best expresses how women should view themselves?
“The awakening of Venus” but I don’t want to explain why; I want your readers to figure out why is that.
7. What’s the ultimate message you want to pass across to women through your paintings.?
That we are artworks! All of the women out there are artworks and we should be treated like that!
8. Your social media handles
https://www.instagram.com/chimfineart/