Eugenio D’Adamo
Where do you live: Italy
Your education: BA in Asian Languages
Describe your art in three words: witty, eclectic, quirky
Your discipline: Digital art, illustration, pixel art, ink on paper
Website | Instagram
Eugenio D’Adamo, Lab (out)break, 2024
Can you tell us more about how your artistic journey began during the Covid-19 pandemic? What inspired you to turn to art at that time?
Actually, my art journey started under unforeseen circumstances. I used to work in the biotechnology field and during my years in the UK the creativity slowly woke up from hibernation after a long time. Initially I kept it as a mere hobby and carried on with my daily routine.
The true twist occurred when my plan to relocate to Italy coincided with the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, which messed up my plans basically.
Under the former restrictions dictated by the lockdown protocol I had a lot of time to spend at home, and one day I said to myself: why don’t you turn the page completely and try to embrace art in a more serious way? So here I am.
Your art often includes a humorous and witty touch. How do you decide when to add humor to your work, and what role does humor play in your creative process?
Humor: I would say it is one of the main spices of life, in my opinion. If used appropriately and in a timely fashion, it simply spices up every situation invaluably.
Unless a client or project requires absolute seriousness, I always prefer to include a touch of wit in every piece I create. The reason is simple: it lightens things up and adds positiveness to the mix.
That said, it doesn’t mean that humor must be used at all costs. As I specified above, it has to be appropriate to the situation. For example, there are some old game-related artwork or some recently commissioned pixel art pieces that I did without any witty connotation. Humor simply did not fit for those ones and that is absolutely fine. Listen to the brief, research, and execute properly. That is the artist.
Eugenio D’Adamo, Bolterina – Spring tour, 2024You mention being inspired by observing daily life, like a stray cat or the tolling of a church bell. Can you share an example of a recent artwork inspired by an unexpected everyday moment?
This can be very easy and equally hard to explain at the same time.
Sometimes there are events in daily life that trigger ideas for a new artwork in a straightforward manner whereas other times the spark that ignites the creative process has seemingly no connection with the occurrence whatsoever, it just lays the groundwork for what will be created.
An example of a recent piece of the “straightforward” type: I was thinking about trying some new cake recipe (I enjoy food and also the cooking process) while jogging. At the same time I was listening to a podcast about geographical mysteries on the planet and they were talking about a peculiar desert in America. My brain was enlightened by the combination of dessert and desert, and that is how the series “Desert of the day” was born.
How has your experience teaching English and Japanese influenced your approach to art? Do you find any similarities between teaching languages and creating art?
I believe the language teaching is even more intertwined with my creativity than I think.
My academic background is in Asian languages so I realised at a later stage that my desire to learn how to read and write the Japanese kanji (or characters) strongly embodied my passion for drawing itself, because those ancient characters come from very old pictograms, which are primitive forms of illustration after all.
My approach to teaching is indeed non-standard and creative: for each student I listen to their intended goals and then focus on different aspects of the language to help them achieve the desired results. In doing so, there is an implied motivational/inspirational task involved, which I find very gratifying.
There is a great sense of challenge in every language lesson as well as in every new art piece.
You describe your work as “smart art with a touch of wit.” How do you approach balancing intellectual elements with humor in your art?
Humor can be a very effective conveyor of feelings and it manifests itself in diverse ways, let alone its different shades and degrees of subtleties.
When it comes to determining the amount of humor within an art piece first of all I decide whether it could work or not visually. If it does, then I start working on the draft itself.
The composition of the scene, the key colors, the amount of details are just some of the key factors that will define the whole artwork.
Humor-wise, I generally go for the word play – I love languages after all – and for the surrealism, which is another penchant of mine. Sometimes the illustration is about playing with certain shapes by assigning them to a different role, for example a giant bicycle wheel turning into a Ferris wheel. I like surrealism because it allows me to break such rules and rearrange them in a different way.
However, regardless of the humor involved, something vital to bear in mind is the fact that it is an illustration first of all, therefore the aesthetics of it come first.
What do you hope viewers take away from your work? Are there any emotions or ideas you hope to evoke in them?
I hope viewers can feel a sense of wonder and joy when looking at my creations. Smiling, giggling, thinking about how rich and detailed the world we live in is; if some of those ideas arose in the spectators’ minds I would be very glad.
In my opinion art is meant to be shared and used for something good and positive.
The world we live in is getting more and more complex and scary in a way. Art comes into play as some sort of saviour that embellishes and betters our planet. As an artist I embrace this mission and strive at best to do so.
Eugenio D’Adamo, Nature calls, 2024“Zest Gest” is a unique artist name. Can you tell us the story behind it and what it represents for you as an artist?
Firstly I picked a letter of the alphabet, and the Z was the chosen one because I like its sound. There are not as many words beginning with the Z as to other ones such as E, S or T, just to name a few.
Then I went for “Zest” because it is an interesting one. “Zest for life” is an expression that characterizes me, and the zest of citruses is a scent that I love.
Finally, something that rhymes with it was necessary. And I opted for “Gest”, which is an archaic English word for a tale of adventure or romance. And Zest Gest it is, an artistic journey full of vigour and passion.
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