• FMI: Greetings Milisa! I am delighted to feature you on today's blog!
MG: Hi Fran! Thanks for having me.
• FMI: Tell us a little about your educational and artistic background.
MG: Since the age of four I knew I was an artist. Adults would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would tell them I'm already an artist!
During my elementary school years, I learned to needlepoint and crochet from both my grandmothers. I sewed all of my clothes for band and chorus concerts in middle school. When I was twelve, my mom taught me how to knit.
In 9th and 10th grade, I attended the local public high school. There, I took all the upper level art classes they offered. Then, I transferred to and graduated from Phillips Academy, Andover, MA. because of their incredible art program.
I majored in art and minored in women’s studies and cultural anthropology at Brown University. I studied in Florence, Italy my junior year which was incredible! I attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) for grad school, which is where I met Fran.
FMI: What are you working on right now? Describe your process.
MG: I have a lot of pokers in the creative fire right now!
Currently, I have work in three group exhibitions. One in Connecticut, one in Rhode Island, and one in Massachusetts.
My work was also included in artist/curator/author Joanne Mattera's book, Italianita. The book profiles fifty-nine artists from across the US. Each artist has a four page spread with color photos of our work and an essay explaining how our Italian heritage has impacted our artwork.
Recently, I crocheted a welcome blanket and donated it to an exhibit at the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, RI. This is part of the Welcome Blanket Project (https://www.welcomeblanket.org), an ongoing national initiative of craftivism (craft + activism). After the Welcome Blanket show comes down the blankets are given to a new immigrant family as a gesture of welcome to the United States.
In 2021, I inherited my mother’s school/day camp, located in Cape Cod, MA. I am just wrapping up the building of a brand new, year-round Wellness Center on the school's campus. It has been a HUGE project and I am excited that it'll be finished soon!
Oh, and I just finished writing a book, which I started just before the pandemic. It's currently in the process of being published! It’s called, Full Palette Human: Ten Touchstones for Creating Your Truest and Most Beautiful Life from the Inside, Out!
• FMI: What does a typical workday look like for you?
MG: I’m up at 6:30am every day and spend the first hour mediating, reading, and planning my day.
When I'm on the Cape, my workday typically starts at 8:00 a.m. I have both phone and in-person meetings and over 100 staff and 325 students to manage. There's always something to do!
When I’m in my studio, I start the day at 9:00 a.m. I make a cup of tea and sit for a bit on my thinking (and napping) couch. Then, I get to work sewing a big shadow drawing or whenever series I am noodling around at the moment. In my studio practice, I challenge myself to continually deepen my practice by going an inch wide and mile deep into the work as opposed to an inch deep and a mile wide!
In my String Theory series, I hand sew layered drawings cut from paper which are then suspended on the wall. Using white thread on white paper these highly labor intensive low relief sculptures function as cut lace showcasing the shadows and emphasizing what is not there as much as what is there. These are a visual metaphor for how we connect to our past, embody our present and connect to a future we may never see.
I’ve also started my next book. The working title is LOOK: Learn to See With Your Eyes and With Your Heart! It’s about embracing our humanity as an antidote to burgeoning love affair with AI.
I usually get home around 5:30 p.m. and meditate again for twenty minutes. Then, I make dinner and catch up with my family. My husband and I have been married for thirty-two years and he’s my best friend. We love to share time in the evenings talking and laughing and generally supporting each other. I typically go to sleep around 9:30pm.
• FMI: Do you have a favorite color palette or favorite materials?
MG: Full Palette baby! And…I LOVE thread!
• FMI: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
MG: Sewing! And scuba diving.
• FMI: If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
MG: POPCORN!
• FMI: Name three people, past or present, you’d like to meet
.
MG: Georgia O’Keefe. Mary Cassatt. Eva Hessa.
• FMI: Favorite hot drink?
MG: Black tea with honey and oat milk.
• FMI: Favorite quote?
Everything always works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, it’s not the end! ~ Milisa Galazzi
• FMI: It's been such a pleasure talking with you, Misa!
Contact Milisa here:
Website: https://www.milisagalazzi.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milisa.galazzi