Sara Montuori

Year of birth: 1994
Where do you live: Italy, in Rimini, a city along the Adriatic coast
Your education: I don’t have a formal art education. I’ve taken various courses in collage, photography, and painting. My training has developed through daily experimentation— observing, practicing, and discovering along the way.
Describe your art in three words: Intimate, Narrative, Tactile
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 Sara Montuori | Longing for love | 2022

How did your artistic journey begin, and what first drew you to collage as your primary medium?

My passion for images, photography, and color began very early, when I was a child. I’ve always had a spontaneous attraction to anything visual. My artistic journey started by naturally following this inclination in everyday life. Without a formal academic background in art, I developed my style through daily practice—experimenting, making mistakes, and trying again. Collage became a personal language for me: a way to build meaning, tell stories, and give shape to emotions and lived experiences. What fascinates me most is the possibility of composing and recomposing, as if each fragment finds its place to tell something larger.

Your works blend traditional and digital elements. How do you decide when to incorporate digital tools into your collages?

The choice between traditional and digital tools depends greatly on the nature of the project. I prefer working with paper and physical materials — I love the direct connection with the medium, the manual gesture, the attention to detail, and even the imperfection of a hand – cut edge. However, when I’m working on a commission or a project that requires more direct and contemporary communication, I integrate digital elements. In these cases, digital tools become a way to make the work more accessible and engaging for the audience, without losing the handmade essence of collage.

Sara Montuori | Back to single life | 2022

Many of your pieces feel emotionally charged. Do you begin with a specific emotion or experience in mind, or does it emerge during the creative process?

Many of my collages are born from real emotions or experiences that I’m going through at the very moment I create. It’s a way to capture what I’m feeling in time – as if I could transform a personal experience into image, paper, and words. I like to think of collage as a symbolic reconstruction of what I’ve lived, taking shape on the blank space of the page.Other times, it’s the process itself that guides me: I let myself be inspired by images and texts found in magazines, newspapers, or other sources, including online. It’s almost as if they suggest an emotion to explore or a story to tell.

What role do books and reading play in shaping your visual language?

Books have always been part of my world—not only as sources of inspiration, but as visual objects.I’m often struck by an image evoked by a phrase, and the words I read can directly influence what I imagine. Reading is a form of visual and mental nourishment for me: it stimulates the imagination and often sparks visual ideas. Collage becomes a way to visually express what I’ve absorbed through reading.

Sara Montuori | Dreams of black | 2022

One of your works was used as a poster for a theatre show. How do collaborations influence your creative process?

Collaborations are precious opportunities for openness and listening. When I work with others, the process is enriched with new perspectives, new languages, new energy. It pushes me out of my usual patterns and allows me to create works that are the result of dialogue—not only with myself, but especially with those who entrust me with a project. It’s a stimulating challenge that often opens new paths in my personal research as well.

What inspires the textual elements in your collages? Are they sourced from literature, media, or are they your own creations?

The textual elements in my collages always stem from an expressive need tied to the emotion or experience I’m trying to represent. I often search for words or phrases that resonate with that particular feeling, and that might also touch those who view the work—perhaps helping them see themselves reflected in it. Sometimes I find these words in books, podcasts, or in meaningful conversations. Other times, they’re phrases I write myself, that come to me almost spontaneously as I work. For me, text is a meeting point between my inner world and the viewer’s.

Sara Montuori | Look at you | 2023

How do you approach the balance between personal storytelling and leaving space for viewers’own interpretations?

I always try to start from something authentic and personal, but I never want to fully define the meaning of my work. I believe art is more powerful when it doesn’t explain everything. I intentionally leave open spaces – ambiguities – so that viewers can find their own meaning, see themselves in the work, or discover a new perspective on a familiar emotion. That’s why I don’t see my collages as fixed or singular. I like to think of them as pieces the viewer can walk through with their own story, building a personal interpretation.