We have the great pleasure of featuring this interview with abstract painter and dancer painter Bianca Dakli. Let her beautiful, highly textured paintings take you on a journey.

SAH: You grew up in Italy; how did you end up in Berlin?

BD: I grew up in Moscow and Rome, then I did my bachelor degree in Contemporary Dance in London, and after that, I moved to Sicily for a dance production.

Afterwards, I returned to Rome without a clue what to do next. So, I called a friend who was already in Berlin and asked if I could stay with her for a while. I ended up staying for eight years, and I love it.

I miss Rome a lot but there are more opportunities for dancers and artists here in Berlin.

SAH: What made you venture from dance to painting?

BD: ActuaIIy I didn't go from dancing to painting, I still do both, often at the sametime!
I only started painting last year in January; I needed another way of expressing myself.
I discovered that painting - more than dancing - is very therapeutic. It’s just me, the colours and the canvas, I have anything else on my mind and all my focus goes on the canvas.

So when the first lockdown started one year ago, and I couldn't dance at all with the company I am part of, or alone in a rented studio, the painting was the perfect channel through which I could feel safe, focused, with myself and out of myself.

SAH: What kind of impact do you hope that your work has?
Aside from the message,is it enough for your art to just be beautiful?

BD: My works are not conceptual, political or anything like that. I’m not making a statment. My biggest wish would be that my paintings create an emotional reachtion, or trigger their imagination which sets them of on a journey.

To create harmony and peace of mind in a sort of sublime way so that even if the painting is "dark" or mysterious, it's not necessarily making the observer uneasy or uncomfortable but curious and wondering.

SAH: Every artist or creative person has their own process. Where does the process begin for you?

BD: I use art as an outlet; it's something that I need to take the load off. Does that make sense?
My painting is very spontaneous and kind of improvised; I pick a few colours that I think might go well together to start with, and after that, I just get carried away and go with the moment (the right music always helps to get inspired!).

Sometimes I paint for an hour, I think I'm done, and then, after a good look at it, I completely change my mind and paint over what I just did and in five I create something completely different which I'm satisfied with. It’s the combination of colours that moves me. I can see something in the painting that could be very different from what another person sees in it, and that is the beauty of it.

SAH: Do you remember the earliest memory of when you wanted to do what you do today?

I don't have s specific memory…….. for so long, I've been so focused on wanting to dance, and I'm happy that I still do it, but I never really had a clear plan or view of what I wanted to do exactly, it just kind of happened, I never expected to paint so much!

What I do today is the result of knowing what I didn’t want to do and getting over some scary bumps along the way.

SAH: What is your main mode for selling original work?

BD: I managed to sell some artworks through connections, but I am working on getting more visibility. For now, it is mainly on social media or online galleries. I’ve also created my website where it is possible to buy my works.

But possible after this pandemic, I'll have a chance to exhibit my paintings somewhere. So people can see them in “real life”.

SAH: What advice would you give somebody who has just started their artistic career?

Since I am an emerging artist and just started a year ago, I don't feel experienced enough to give advice. When I started paining in my little room, I never expected that strangers would compliment me for my paintings. Everything is possible; at least, you have to try and enjoy and don’t forget why you are painting or making art.