I am an artist living and working in Rome, where I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. I have three young children, and I strive to balance my personal life and work, often merging these two realities.
My artistic practice is deeply rooted in the technique of copperplate engraving, which I began exploring in 2000. Over the years, I have expanded my expressive language to include painting, sculpture, photography, and installations. My research focuses on the deconstruction and reconstruction of objects, works, and memories, with the goal of creating new perceptual dimensions and unexpected layers of interpretation.
In recent years, my artistic expression has extended toward participatory and workshop-based art
Practice: Participatory and installation art
“Magic Carpets” project
The project for 2025 is in progress
More updates coming soon
Past projects
Città Foresta – Le Cosmicomiche, 2023- 2024
Type: Workshop, children, co-creation, relational and participatory art, Art festival, sustainability
Gaia Scaramella led two participatory workshops as part of Città Foresta – Le Cosmicomiche, a traveling art festival curated by Latitudo Art Projects and one of the winning projects funded by Estate Romana 2023–2024. This initiative activated five Roman neighborhoods: Labaro, Laurentino, Corviale, Tufello, and Trullo, through creative workshops focused on sustainability and community. Scaramella engaged children, teens and adults in collaborative artistic processes. In Caos Cosmico (2023), participants used collage to create colourful puppet-like figures with large expressive eyes, symbolizing collective emotion and openness to new perspectives. This workshop encouraged shared creativity and connection among participants. In Saluti Da | Greetings from(2024), the workshop focused on recycled materials to craft masks, encouraging exploration of identity and imagination. The masks were worn in staged photographs, producing a collective portrait where the creative spirit of each individual replaces their physical face, inviting viewers into the children’s imagined worlds and stories.
I colori del mondo (The Colors of the World), 2024
Type: On January 1st, 2024, artist Gaia Scaramella, in collaboration with Latitudo Art Projects, led the workshop The Colors of the World at the Franco Basaglia Library in Rome, as part of the Capodarte program. Young participants created collage masks starting from prints of world maps on paper bags, symbolically transforming themselves into citizens of the world. This choice represents a temporary shedding of a fixed personal identity to embrace new perspectives of global citizenship and cultural openness. The workshop opened with a group reflection on the richness of different cultures and the importance of valuing diversity. Gaia Scaramella guided the children in an open dialogue about the many realities that shape our world, encouraging them to consider their own place within it. The creative process became a journey of self-discovery, promoting empathy, equality, and hope for a more peaceful future. The Capodarte initiatives are promoted by Roma Capitale, Department of Culture, with coordination by the Department of Cultural Activities, in collaboration with Biblioteche di Roma, the Capitoline Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, and institutions of the Technical Table for the Production of Contemporary Culture.
300, 2010
Type: Installation art, Sculpture
300 is a site-specific installation created for the 2010 edition of Intramoenia Extra Art, a contemporary art exhibition set in castles and historic palaces across Puglia. Conceived to occupy the entire rooftop of the tower of Castello Anfonsino of Brindisi, , the work spans a surface of approximately 22.85 by 24.35 meters.
The installation consists of 300 black monochrome pinwheels. The title, 300, refers not only to the number of pinwheels but also alludes to the legendary Battle of Thermopylae and the valor of the 300 Spartan warriors. In reference to this, the pinwheels are arranged to evoke the strategic formation of a platoon, either in defence or attack.
A virtual checkered grid, with roughly one-meter spacing between elements, distributes the pinwheels geometrically across the elliptical rooftop, imposing a sense of order and discipline on the composition. The colour black is deliberately chosen to convey layered meanings: it evokes the sombre and mournful realities of war; while also stripping the pinwheel, an object typically associated with childhood and play, of any innocence or lightness.
Activated by the wind, the pinwheels give tangible form and sound to an otherwise invisible force, poetically returning the wind to itself through motion and resonance.
What inspires you as an artist? As an artist, I am inspired by an alternative image of reality, an unconventional perspective of things. But also communication, reflection, and dissent.
What do you think is the purpose of art? The purpose of art is to break the patterns. To embrace the unexpected, generating emotional reactions.
Contacts
Email: gaiaska22@[et]gmail.com | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube