Federica Balconi on Being a Young Artist in Milan

Federica Balconi (b. 1999, Monza) discusses her early career in Milan, where she studies at Brera Academy and maintains a shared studio in the city's southern zone. She describes Milan as a place that forces her work out of the studio into openings, talks, and fairs, though she finds the competitive dynamics among emerging artists sometimes toxic—calling it the 'urban shark' logic. Balconi's practice involves creating 'impossible machines' that blend mechanical forms with tender gestures, such as 'Tuttotondo' (2025), a fusion of a carousel horse and a compass. She also makes faux-marble architectural elements from cardboard and Japanese paper, as in 'Custodi' (2024). A formative experience was working in an artisan's workshop at age 13, learning to work with limited means. Her participation in the 2023 Biennale de Mulhouse in France was a pivotal solo show. A professor once told her she was 'too shy to be an artist,' which motivated her to improve.