The lustrous paintings of Filippo A.L Cegani look no less than a moment from an animated film. His works and the details of three-dimensional approach onto bidimensional surface is hypnotic piece of craft.

I’d like to begin by asking you about your childhood years. How was life for you while growing up? Please describe your inspirations and influences.

I grew up in Italy, I’ve always been fascinated by religious art and most importantly by circus fairs around Liguria, as a child I was deeply interested in those awfully camp statues generally found in carousels and circuses.

When and how did you acquire artistic skills? How did you adapt this specifically lustrous visual impact on your paintings?

I started properly painting when I was about 18, I started working as an assistant to a sculptor in Milan and he suggested I should spend more time practicing, I have to say that I couldn’t really see progress up until 5 years ago, as my practice beforehand was more about experimenting rather than focusing on “my” own work.

Speaking of indifferent modes of art, what difficulties and challenges did you encounter while developing your craft?

I have to say that approaching airbrush as a technique in my early 20s was a depressing, frustrating, and confusing moment, I knew I wanted to learn how to use that tool, yet it was obvious from the beginning that it would have taken years to master it, I consider myself a beginner at the moment yet the challenge of mastering the tool makes me want to practice more and more.

Let's get into conceptualization and creative processes. How do you navigate the overall flow that results in such surrealistic impressions?

For what concerns the concept behind the paintings, the topic just comes naturally, I think it is a mixture of sharing my traumas on a bidimensional surface and reconnecting the imagery to broaden the spectrum of what I’m trying to communicate. I feel like my works follow a flow, both conceptually and aesthetically, I often see myself falling in and out of love with certain materials or patterns, and for the most part, the concepts and aesthetics go hand in hand, the general topic I recognize in my painting is a game between strengths and weaknesses and also the irony behind brute force and delicacy.

What is it that you like about the current times we’re living in? What fears or excitements do you hold for the world that is on its way to being experienced?

Like most of my peers, I am truly enjoying navigating society through social media, having this ease of access to artists and the possibility to write to them and exchange opinions and suggestions is truly amazing, at the same time what scares me is the boundaries within this digital world and losing contact with a simpler society, I try my best to meet up IRL the people I message online so that I do not lose the human interaction. I’m worried about using the tool to make connections the only form of interaction with people I have.

You have included in your work some absurd and abstract visuals too, so… What’s your opinion about the reformations and upgrades on the subject of contemporary and modern arts?

To be honest, I don’t really have a position or insight regarding it, the art world as a whole is moving too fast, probably fueled by the quick interactions we can now have. I’m just really excited about the future of ultra-contemporary painting, the idea of having influences from all over the world literally on your phone gives me great interest regarding the future of post-digital figurative in general. I am just truly excited about what will come next and if I Hope will still have a voice in this aesthetics conversation

What do you think about the consequences of technology and hi-tech culture that impacts our health? Did you encounter any pitfalls related to such, and how did you/you deal with it?

I generally prefer not to give opinions/suggestions on matters I don’t fully comprehend, yet I do realize that the current overconsumption of the digital media by our generation and the younger ones do carry consequences both in the ways we experience society as well as the way we approach people on a daily basis. I personally find a correlation between my anxieties/depression and periods of my life where I use social media / digital entertainment too much. I recently started forcing myself out of the house/studio and experience life a bit more, that helped but I’m not entirely sure if that is just placing a plaster on an open wound or an actual method of healing.

The line between art and design is fading and both are constantly evolving. How do you view this? What would you like to say about the idea of certain designs becoming art and vice versa?

I started properly developing my practice while assisting a much older artist as I mentioned previously, therefore I was brainwashed into associating handcraft and art as an indivisible thing, I still surprise myself into falling into this pattern even though I still value and respect heavily lots of artists and designers that merge the two disciplines.