MARGHERITA CHIARVA – A WOMAN IN TRANSITION

Always on the move, Italian photographer, Margherita Chiarva’s, dream-like images, blurs the lines between two worlds by capturing the in-between-ness of moments, and portraying stories into hidden, secret memories.

Here, Margherita Chiarva, takes us over the horizon and into her world, and reveals a glimpse of her daydreams, what it means to be a woman, and why she continues to shoot with analogue.

Heraclitus flux, Seeing through Margherita Chiarva’s eyes

What is the source of your inspiration?

I grew up between Milan and Ibiza, and continue to travel between both places. I love Milan for the hustle of the city and Ibiza is a very special place to me – a safe haven on an island. But my ancestral family comes from Piemont – a quiet town in the mountains of Italy called Viridio in Piedmont. We still have a house there, it belongs to my grandfather since the 1940’s. Each year our family and friends gather, it is another world altogether.

I can be quite sporadic and am often in Ibiza, this island is my cocoon of dreams, a shelter. It is the opposite of what most people think of when they visualise Ibiza [crazy night-life]. For me, when I feel like I want to escape, I let my mind wander to Ibiza. When I am there [both physically or mentally] my subconscious mind creates these new ideas, which has influenced my work. There is a dream-like language I create, that is both literal and metaphorical. I see reality in a different way – a blur between two worlds.

Selfie, Margherita Chiarva

When did you start taking pictures?

I started to take pictures with a 35mm camera when I was 15 years old. I remembered the first time my teacher saw my pictures and told me ‘this is not a good photo, nothing is focused.’ I later learnt that I was short-sighted. Seeing blurry was my normal. All my pictures were always blurry and I didn’t think blurry pictures were a problem. I decided to continue taking photos without the focus, I guess, this is the world seen through my eyes.

What influenced you to become a photographer?

Instinctively, I always knew since I was 15 years old [in boarding school] that I would become a photographer. I have always been drawn to the subtle stories in pictures and had this intuition of wanting to tell stories. I enrolled into cinematography at Milan University and eventually realised I preferred to work alone, which led me to do my Masters in Photography at Central Saint Martins in London.

Lost in time and space, Shot with home-made camera made of two beer cans and a cigarette pack

Tell me more about this dream-like language?

Time goes by too fast. Sometimes, I get a glimpse of the truth. The soul. I like to capture the energy – this is what I get attracted to. The energy. I get lost in these moments, I see beauty in mistakes and simplicity – each moment, each click, each image, gets a special treatment, some sort of manipulation. I try to immortalise and share these magic moments as they don’t repeat themselves.

Composition of a Woman, Chemical manipulations on polaroid, 2015

You are currently experiencing some changes in your life, can you share this story?

I am a woman in transition. Vulnerable and strong. For many years, I felt I was in a hurry to find new extreme experiences of seeing, feeling and tasting. Now, I do everything quietly. I am calm and my work speaks for me. The realisation happened quite suddenly – it was early June and I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, and it was at that peaceful moment, I saw my true purpose. Looking backwards, I was always going around with my hand like this [fist punching the air] screaming ‘here I am, I am this, and I have this to say, this is my statement,’ fighting to be heard – almost like a political protest. Inside, I am actually really fragile. I realised I had to do the opposite. I am strong, but I will express it with my silence – through my art.

Waving at Sunrise in Alaska, Chemical manipulation on polaroid, 2014

Do you have fears?

I have fears, like everyone else. I want to continue to find new ways to live in the process of always creating and maintaining my soul. I am constantly trying to find the balance between truth and not spoiling the roots.

Do you have a life motto?

My life motto is – life is a flux. My work is always evolving with me, a moment of constant change – this has its beauty and its difficulty. There is a strong femininity about my work, I believe the ultimate meaning of being a woman is to create; creating work, creating a human being, and creating an energy.

Floating Thinker, Chemical manipulation on polaroid, 2014

What shall we expect from you next?

The next natural development will be the launch of my own photography lab [dark room] in Milan. This creative space is shared with another artist and I hope to be able to nurture and support the traditional methods of photography. I have always and will continue to shoot analogue. I love this internalised process – to be in the dark room, to manipulate, to experiment, and to create new art.