Interview with Valerio Eliogabalo Torrisi

q) Where did you grow up/where do you live now and how does that contribute to your art?

a)  I was born in Catania, where I'm currently living (in a small town called Riposto). I don't really think  that the place where I live had ever contribute to my art. Instead  I think that the place where I live doesn't give me opportunities to grow up with my art, it's so difficult to be an artist here. I lived for 11 month in Isla De Margarita, in Venezuela and I think  that this had contribute to create my personality as an artist because before I went to Venezuela I only "played" with the camera and I almost droved. In Margarita I attended an art school and this allowed me to discover my purpose in life.

q) What is your earliest memory that propelled you to create?

a)Drawing has always been my passion. I was also passionate about creating things using any kind of material. I had my first camera when I was 16. My earliest memory in photography, the first photographic project that I consider worthy of note , was a project with a Venezuelan girl . I loved fashion photography , but then I realized that I preferred other genres . Obviously the first best pictures I took , were nature photography of the Caribbean's landscapes.

q) Tell us a little bit about your creative process.

a) I work so much with my fantasy. When someone tell me a story, when I see a particular color  or a particular scene in the everyday life, I use to imagine a story behind what I see. Then I memorize as much details as I can, and I elaborate them in something new: I create a photo in my mind. Sometimes I need to do a comp, because I love to create all the scene by myself, so I need to have all clear in my mind.

q) How do you wish for your art to be perceived?

a)  I don't know how my art is perceived , but I hope my work give something to everyone watch them. I hope they tell something to their hearts, like a film, or a book. I always try to tell a story. Most of those stories are true.

q) Do you feel that there are limitations to what you want to create?

a) The biggest limitation is my camera: I work with a Nikon D3000, that is the basic Reflex Camera.
Sometimes is so difficult to create what you create in your mind, if you don't have the right material.

q) Do you feel art is vital to survival and if so, why?

a) I think art is vital, because I live with art everyday. Everyday I need to see something new, new photos, new videos, new artists. Is like oxygen.  I know it would sound like something strange, but without oxygen nobody can live. The same is with art to me. Is like an eternal  Stendhal Syndrome: if I don't live with art "life for me dries up , I  walk fearing to fall" .

q) Tell us a secret, and obsession.

a) I don't think I have big secrets, because I live with many obsessions, but this is not a secret for anybody.

q) Where can people see more of your work on the internet?

a)I have two blogs on internet, Tumblr and Flickr:
Tumblr: http://valerioeliogabalotorrisi.tumblr.com/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98502145@N07/
My FB page is: https://www.facebook.com/Valerioeliogabalotorrisi