Painter's zodiac works reach for the stars

Photo by Wang Ji/China Daily

"The kites are symbols that contain the magic place where the most mysterious part of the deep self lies. Their flights live in symbiosis with the rhythmic revolution of the stars - measured with wind, space, clouds, tempest, lightning, meteors and rainbow in a continuous dialogue between sky and Earth," she says.

She shows creations in oil on canvas that center on the starry night and 12 Zodiac constellations, in which she positions the Earth as a tiny dot in the whole universe. Under her imaginative brushwork, the immense sky and the rise and fall of stars together constitute a deep sea of infinity, in which she feels her thoughts erupting and her self lost in exploring the universe.

Occipinti says she like things that are unconventional. She is happy that her works are making their first appearance at a gallery instead of a museum, where people can drink, talk and touch her works.

"When people come to see my works, it doesn't feel like they are watching something at a museum. They will feel that they can directly communicate with me like a friend or a family member."

The native of Perugia, she was raised as a child with vanguard spirit, who was destined to become an artist, rather than an obedient housewife, commonly seen "focusing on the needlework on the streets" in her hometown.