Samantha Stella: Art and Music Interview

Samantha Stella, a multidisciplinary artist from Genoa now based in Milan, discusses her practice spanning contemporary dance, theater, performance, photography, video, installations, costume design, music, voice, and writing. From 2005 to 2015, she presented projects as Corpicrudi with Sergio Frazzingaro. Since 2015, she has worked under her own name and collaborated with songwriter Nero Kane, performing across Italy, Europe, and Los Angeles. She directed an experimental film in California ghost towns and deserts based on his music, and released a dark folk psychedelia album with a short film in October 2020. Her aesthetic influences include Nick Cave, Wovenhand, Swans, Nico, PJ Harvey, Joy Division, Father Murphy, Frédéric Chopin's Funeral March, and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. She defines art as recognizing the eternal and leaving an authentic mark beyond death. Her column "Walk of Muses" is dedicated to Maestro Ezio Bosso. Her favorite visual artwork is Antonio Canova's "Maddalena Penitente" (c. 1793-96) at the Musei di Strada Nuova in Genoa, which she admires for its pre-Romantic passion and transience.