Stefania Pasquini - Anima d'Africa

Stefania Pasquini (Italy, 1983–)
Anima d’Africa, 2023.
Technique: mixed media on canvas Gallery, with oil painting, acrylic, spray, gold leaf and botanical fingerprints obtained through the direct use of natural leaves.
Dimensions: 50 × 70 cm.
Edition: original unique artwork, not part of a edition or numbered series.

Anima d’Africa is a female portrait inspired by African imagery, realized through the fusion of painting, matter, and technical experimentation. The figure, depicted in profile, is painted in oil. The face and body are built through a search for flesh tone, light, and shadows, while the distinctive headdress constitutes one of the central elements of the composition and is created by overlaying shapes, motifs, and color fields obtained with acrylic paints and spray. The background emerges from a material exploration that relates painting and nature. Some real leaves were placed directly on the surface treated with acrylic and used as natural masking during the application of spray. This procedure allows the imprint of the leaf and the trace of its veins to appear on the canvas. Other leaves were colored and subsequently pressed directly onto the painted surface. The process generates botanical imprints in which the leaf’s natural structure remains recognizable, yet reinterpretated through color and painterly gesture. Behind the figure is a large circular area made with gold leaf, introducing a luminous and symbolic element to the composition. The contrast between gold, the blue and green tones of the background, and the flesh tone of the figure contributes to the construction of space and the chromatic balance of the work. The piece relates the human figure, nature, and material, combining traditional painting techniques with experimental procedures based on the direct use of natural elements.

Frame: not present.

The work is signed by the artist at the lower right, with paint applied by brush.

The work comes directly from the artist and has been kept in her studio from creation to sale.

The work is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity issued by the artist, containing the identifying data of the work, the title, the technique, the support, the dimensions, and the date of realization.

The work is in perfect condition, with no restorations, damage, or known alterations. The material characteristics of the surface, including the impressions obtained with natural leaves and the applications of gold leaf, are an integral part of the technique and the original realization of the work.

The work will be shipped unframed and unmounted, rolled and adequately protected for transport.

Stefania Pasquini is a contemporary Italian artist whose research focuses mainly on portraiture, figurative painting, and the experimentation of techniques and materials. She deepened her artistic training under the guidance of Gastone Costantini, attended the Scuola dell’Affresco di Treglio, where she studied fresco technique under the master Vico Calabrò, and in 2025 she attended the Milano Painting Academy (Fondazione Maimeri), with Nicola Verlato. Her production includes oil painting, acrylic, pastel, mixed media, and murals, with particular attention to the human figure, flesh tone rendering, and material research. Her path includes both canvas works and wall interventions and artistic panels. She has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Abruzzo and Molise. Among the solo exhibitions are those at the Foyer of the Fenaroli Theatre in Lanciano, the Exhibition Hall on Via dei Frentani in Lanciano, and the Hall of the Municipality of Agnone. Among the group exhibitions are the Fifth Edition of the Montemarcone Collective Painting Exhibition, exhibitions at the National Carabinieri Association of Atessa, the group show in Carovilli, the collective with the Compagni di Tavolozza group in 2023, and Magie a confronto at the Foyer of Lanciano in 2024. In 2023 she participated in the Piano Recital of Dance and Painting and received the Third Prize at the Villa Scorciosa Painting Outdoor Competition. Her activity also includes the creation of murals, frescoes, and artistic panels documented in various contexts, including works in Lanciano, Treglio, Castel Frentano, and Pavia. In 2026 she created an artistic panel for the Municipality of Landriano, in the province of Pavia.