With a style that blends fashion, interior design and contemporary art, Rubena Bonini has built a unique and constantly changing path. Born in Milan and raised a “child of art,” she has been able to transform each creative experience into a piece of her current language: works that interweave matter and spirit, freedom and symbol, inviting the observer to an inner journey. Her creations, often untitled, are not simply objects to be contemplated but experiences to be lived, fragments of the soul that offer themselves to the interpretation of those who encounter them. In this interview, Rubena talks about her artistic vision, the creative process and future directions of her research.
Your path starts from fashion and interior design but today lands in contemporary art. How have these experiences shaped your artistic outlook?
When I create, I often think that each work will influence, if not dictate, the environment of its final destination. My passion for interior design means that each work contains a strong projection of a project.
Growing up a “child of art,” what influence do you feel is strongest in the way you create?
The only influence I received was that from the cradle I breathed art, so I was surrounded by a strong sense of aesthetics. In practice, our worlds are opposites: after learning to use oil paints, I put down my brushes and created a technique of my own, driven by a strong need for ever-changing three-dimensionality.
In your works matter and spirit dialogue: how does this interweaving come about?
There is a particular phase in dreams when our astral can enter worlds where everything is vibration and nothing figurative can bring back what I see. Only with great difficulty can matter and particular colors, to a small degree, express these visions.
The use of heterogeneous and novel materials is a hallmark of yours. How does he choose and combine these elements?
Every approach to a new material is a great challenge, because what I see is difficult to bring back into this material dimension. I am always looking for materials that can best express themselves.
His technique seems to combine simplicity and complexity. What is the creative process behind this apparent contradiction?
Perhaps at first glance we perceive simplicity, but it only takes a moment to grasp in detail the complex difficulty of translating an energy into matter. Stones crumble, wood decays, and people inevitably leave this world. In contrast, fragile things like a thought, a dream or a legend can withstand the passage of time, changing people’s perspective and influencing the way they see the world. This is the most enduring and powerful creation that can be realized.
What do the “soul fragments” that emerge in your works mean to you?
Each work possesses a spark of light from the artist. Each inspiration runs through you, creating a fight without rules and leaving a part of himself inside each painting.
The forms you create intersect and contaminate each other: what is the symbolic message you wish to convey?
Duality. There is a balance between the fascination of darkness and the beauty of light.
You often choose the “untitled.” How important is it for you to allow the audience freedom of interpretation?
I prefer not to translate my vision. My works are containers of the meanings of others.
His works are not only to be contemplated but to be experienced. How do you construct this experiential dimension?
My purpose is to convey a vibrational resonance, an identification. I create a universe of invisible waves and sparks, listening to the whisper of electricity as a secret melody and transforming energy into art.
What audience reactions strike you most when they look at your work?
When someone perceives them as portals to distant worlds.
Your path seems to be in constant transformation. What creative directions do you feel you would like to explore in the future?
To this question I cannot answer because nothing comes from the logic that leads to having projects. I can only wait for that particular dialogue that inspires every artist.
If you had to describe your artistic poetics today in three words, which ones would you choose?
I am a “visionary” who speaks the language of the stars, walking among lightning and ideas.
In Rubena Bonini’s works, there is no message to decipher, but a gateway to cross: forms, materials and symbols become inner compasses, capable of directing the gaze beyond what is visible.
