Trisha Palma

Trisha you are a Street Artist, Painter, Set Designer who puts a social message in all her works. Where does the desire to become an “activist” come from?

I was born in Scampia (a suburban neighborhood of Naples ed.) where I still live. The need to paint on walls arose somewhat’ by accident: I didn't have much space at home to paint on large surfaces, so some friends who already used sprays advised me to try. And I never stopped from there. I have been making murals using brushes for more than ten years now. When I felt the need to express an opinion, the most direct and natural way for me was to do it through painting. I realized that that was my means: not only to express myself, but also to give voice to those who don't have a voice. Painting and music are universal languages: you may not know a language, but you feel that thing, you understand it. There wasn't a moment when I decided to use my art to “do activism”, I simply realized over time that every mural of mine is linked to a social message. I didn't decide that out of hand, it was natural because I can't just do decoration. If a work does not have a purpose, it loses meaning for me. So I became an activist, even though I hadn't planned it. I attended art high school and then studied theater scenography at the Academy. The scenography attracted me because, like murals, it makes you work on large surfaces that need to be transformed and then both have a technical point: the squared. If you look at a mural or scenography up close you don't see anything, but from afar the whole painting reveals itself and my style is influenced by theatrical painting, especially lyrical painting. I signed several opera scenes and also worked as a prop maker at the Teatro San Carlo but painting took over. I still really like theatre but today my main work is urban art: murals, small canvases, events.

And urban art is also giving you a lot of satisfaction, especially starting from the murals of the Vicolo delle Donne, where you have portrayed many female figures.

Il Vicolo delle Donne was born from a collaboration with AM Bookstore, which unfortunately closed a few months ago, and with the Vicolo della Cultura association which operates in the Rione Sanità. The idea was to tell female figures that stood out in art, science, literature. We start with Frida Kahlo and then continue with Rita Levi-Montalcini, Matilde Serao, Artemisia Gentileschi, Michela Murgia. The intent was to make the girls and boys who pass by that alley understand that a woman can be everything. The figures I represented faced and overcame the difficulties of their time, establishing themselves in different ways. Next to each face is a meaningful phrase. The idea was successful and the media coverage attracted a great many visitors. For me, that work also has a special meaning because it is on the journey I took every day to go to art high school, my professors see it every morning. For me it's a nice recognition. The first “Vicolo della Cultura” all painted by me is another and is located in Scampia. There are no faces there, but birds and celidonies, symbols dear to me because celandine is a flower linked to a legend: it is said that swallows use its pollen to open the eyes of their cubs. And we do the same with art: we try to open the eyes of the young people of the Rione Sanità. In the Rione Sanità I do scenography courses for the kids of the neighborhood through the Putéca Celidònia association.