INTERVIEW From lines to life: Italian illustrator conjures up 'extra+ordinary' spectacles of everyday lives

Federica Del Proposto's "Driver Lessons" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

Federica Del Proposto sees her spirited art as being just the right combination of architectural precision and vibrant comic storytelling — her two early creative ventures before finding her true calling in illustration.

Italian illustrator and visual artist Federica Del Proposto / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

The meticulously rendered parallel lines in Del Proposto’s colorful landscapes reflect her initial years working as an architect in Rome and Paris, while the playful expressiveness of her characters hints at the punchy storytelling in her comic strips, “Fumettisottovuoto,” a university passion project that became an online sensation in Italy in the late 2000s.

“I searched for an artistic field that could reunite all my personalities in one practice. Illustration came naturally as the most suitable for this task,” the Italian artist told The Korea Times in an email interview. “I want to tell little stories and emotions with [just] a few lines.”

Over the last decade, the self-taught illustrator’s lively scenography of cities, buildings and people has found its way into publications and cultural festivals around the world — the pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the catalog for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics and the walls of the cosmetics giant Amorepacific’s headquarters in Seoul.

And this summer, her art has landed at Museum 209 in Seoul’s Songpa District for her debut solo exhibition in Asia, titled “Extra + Ordinary Journey.”

Federica Del Proposto's "The Extra Ordinary Journey" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

“The journey is both ordinary and extraordinary because it shows the everyday lives, stories and emotions of people, but also what it means to be human living in our world,” she said.

“We live in spaces designed by us, humans, and we are architects of our own emotions while living in these spaces. So, even an ordinary everyday situation is part of a more complex and extraordinary global narrative, in which we all are linked.”

That is why space — what Del Proposto calls “the scenography of our stories” — is always the starting point within her illustrated world. She then spontaneously populates these settings with characters, giving them an “extra + ordinary” lease on life.

Federica Del Proposto's "Montenapoleone District" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

Federica Del Proposto's "Le Canal Saint-Martin" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

Overall, the exhibition is a feast for the eyes, breathing life into the artist’s vividly lined cityscapes of New York, Paris, Milan, London, Bangkok and Seoul with her touch of imagination.

Featuring over 100 illustrations and site-specific installations inspired by her two-dimensional drawings, the show traces the decade-long evolution of her creative career — from her earlier, droll depictions of women indoors in “The Black and White Series” to her first foray into a multihued palette with fineliners and pastels in “The Village Saint-Martin” series.

Federica Del Proposto's "Ten Minutes Drawings" series / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

In the summer of 2021, the illustrator was struck by an unexpected nerve injury that temporarily paralyzed two of her fingers. With her ability to draw severely impacted, she could lift her pen for no more than half an hour a day.

During her two months of recovery, she came across the Japanese Sumi-e technique, traditionally used for black ink paintings, and decided to experiment with it in her colorful outlines. The result? Portraits of cultural icons rendered in free-flowing, gestural lines in just 10 minutes.

Rihanna, David Bowie, Emily Dickinson and Michelle Yeoh are just a few of the famous faces featured in her “Ten Minutes Drawings” on display.

Federica Del Proposto's "Afghan Hound" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication

The exhibition culminates in Del Proposto’s latest creative phase, represented by the “Three Lands” installation produced specifically for the Seoul event. This much-denser piece reflects on “our contemporary times and the intricacies of our world and society," a theme that has particularly captivated the artist since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Highlighting the international resonance of her style, she expressed hope that visitors take time to immerse themselves in the moments captured in her illustrated universe.

“It has to be an ‘extra’ experience in their ordinary days, like enjoying a special moment for ourselves or with our families,” she noted.

“Extra + Ordinary Journey” runs through Oct. 27.

Federica Del Proposto's "Thailand" / Courtesy of the artist and Dcommunication