“A message of hope…”
Paul Zimmerman in conversation with Teresa Bellini
Paul Zimmerman: How did you get interested in art?
I started painting less than ten years ago, after feeling an irresistible attraction to the idea of expressing myself through gestures and colors. I need to tell my story, to express the creative and inner freedom that has always been a part of me. This inner space, which I translated into painting, has always been my way of escaping a life that has often been objectively very complicated. When I began painting in 2018, my intention was to build a new life by transforming the old one (during which I was also very silent) into something that had meaning and harmony. Very quickly, I discovered the therapeutic power of abstract painting, which soon took over my life. Since 2021, I’ve been a full-time painter.
Teresa Bellini: What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
Painting actually comes quite naturally to me. Having found a way to translate the story of my life onto canvas—a life I’ve lived intensely, for better or worse—I can say that painting has somehow saved me. So for me, it’s always a source of joy, even though it can be physically and emotionally demanding at times. My personal artistic marks—glazes, layering, and overlaps—are symbols of my life, and painting them feels very natural to me now.
PZ: What is your artistic process? How do you create your paintings?
TB: I usually start from an impulse that I would describe as almost musical. My painting flows like a fugue: an explosion of gestures, a lyrical improvisation. The color moves like a melody without a score. Often I begin with chaotic, disharmonic, and sometimes painful compositions. This represents life for me—or at least my past life. Amid this ugly and dissonant background, I begin to create a happy pattern, which gradually harmonizes with the backdrop and represents my inner garden or world, which I’ve always tried to keep fertile. Often the impulse is triggered by a color or a combination of colors that I happen to see and that start vibrating inside me, creating new worlds. I love color deeply and enjoy expressing myself through its variety, which is evident in my work.
PZ: Do you have any particular goal in mind when your start a new piece?
TB: My main goal is the act of painting itself, which allows me to express emotions, memories, mental states, or feelings. I feel the need to give meaning to my life experiences and convey a message of peace to those who view my work. I want to affirm, again and again, that from chaos we can always strive to create something harmonious—from inner chaos to a new, spontaneous order. My message is always intended to be positive and optimistic because that is the life view I’ve painstakingly built. My work aims to create a meditative space where the observer is encouraged to connect with their inner self. My paintings invite the viewer to engage in an act that is “as simple as it is revolutionary: to stop. To stop and reflect, to feel, to perceive their own sensations without the filter of rationality.”
PZ: How do you know when the painting is finished?
TB: I know it’s finished when I feel emptied by it—when I have nothing more to add, when everything has been said. The painting is complete, resolved, and I feel empty. I feel the urge to move on and face something new. I enjoy variety in life in general, and painting is a very eclectic activity!
PZ: Has your practice changed over time?
TB: Absolutely. When I first started painting, I painted seven days a week, as if carried by a current I couldn’t stop. I created about 200 paintings in the first three years, overwhelmed by this new opportunity to express everything I had kept inside until then. Then I began living and painting in the present, and my pace and style of painting became calmer. Nevertheless, I still create on the wave of often sudden inspiration.
PZ: Which artists are you most influenced by?
TB: One above all: Gustav Klimt. I’ve been fascinated by his compositions, colors, and gold tones since I was a child. His gardens were a major inspiration for my Hidden Garden series. Over the years, when I practiced master copying, I reproduced three of his works, which was very instructive from a technical point of view. In his gardens especially, Klimt brings natural subjects into pure abstraction—there’s no perspective, but rather texture, pattern, and visual harmony. Inspired by him, I paint my gardens as if composing music. No horizon—only color, rhythm, vibration, and movement. I’m also drawn to Abstract Expressionism and Helen Frankenthaler. I’m very intrigued by the work and story of Hilma af Klint.
PZ: How would you define yourself as an artist?
TB: I agree with whom have described my art as “an initiatory journey toward self-discovery, a path that dismantles the structures imposed by everyday life and reconnects with the most authentic essence of the individual. The ability to create imaginary gardens or spaces, where order and disorder coexist in harmony, becomes a metaphor for inner exploration, where everyone can find their own space for reflection and rebirth.”
PZ: What are you working on now?
TB: I keep working on my three series: Hidden Garden, which will be the focus of my upcoming solo exhibition in Italy, and the Desert and Abstract series. Together, they express my multifaceted inner world. At the same time, I’m always experimenting with new techniques and looking for inspiration for new series or works. I have two solo shows planned—one coming up in Italy and another in New York at the end of 2026—as well as several group exhibitions in Madrid, Paris, Venice, and New York.
PZ: What is importance of art in our society?
TB: I believe that what allows some of us to live well is the ability to transform difficulties into opportunities for personal growth. My painting aims to be a message of hope. I believe the world—and each of us individually—desperately needs peace, positive messages, and, not least, visions that reconnect us with the feminine creative force: the ability to generate not only biological life but also ideas, images, and inner worlds. A more intuitive, symbolic, natural, and cyclical dimension. In abstract painting, this dimension manifests as spontaneous, organic, sensual, and fluid creation—a form that “blooms” without rigid structure. My painting, in short, is an act of sublimating pain, meant to give hope, because life canchange and take unexpected directions if we remain connected to our most authentic essence.