“We are made of a thousand smudges and imperfections, and that is what makes us unique.” — Laura Valli
I am an Italian artist based in Tenerife.
I began painting during one of the darkest periods of my life: three years marked by relentless panic attacks and a depression that had left me feeling completely empty.
One day, I bought a canvas and began to breathe again. Painting became my sanctuary and my path to healing.
It gave me a way to understand what I could not put into words and to give form to my deepest emotions.
I paint to understand myself, to find my way back to who I am, and to exist authentically. Through oil on canvas, I explore the human psyche. I paint children, animals and evocative, often undefined figures to portray the soul in its truest form, without masks.
By combining figurative and abstract elements, I seek to portray vulnerability as a source of strength and authenticity as a revolutionary act.
For me, art is survival. It is the most primal way in which human beings declare to the world:
“I am here. I exist. And I am real.”
Biography
Through oil painting, Laura Valli explores the emotional and psychological dimensions of the human experience.
Inspired by the expressive spirit of the Renaissance, her artistic research focuses on the movements of the soul, translating them into bold brushstrokes, symbolic colours and a fusion of figurative and abstract elements.
Her subjects -children, animals and faces that are not always fully defined- emerge as inner mirrors, evoking emotions that society often encourages us to suppress.
Her works, which she describes as psychological paintings, arise from a process of deep listening. They invite the viewer to reconnect with their authentic self, transforming vulnerability and pain into expressive strength. Each work thus becomes a silent bridge between art and introspection.
“We are not merely a body. The body is an instrument of expression.”
An Important Message
Art and Mental Health
Painting saved my life.
After three years of panic attacks and depression, I saw life only in black and white.
Everything felt barren. I did not understand what I was feeling or know how to cope with it. It was consuming me.
One day, I got out of bed and went to buy a canvas, brushes and paints.
For twenty minutes, in the midst of an otherwise dark day, I was fully present. Calm. The darkness had begun to lift.
From that moment on, I understood that painting was essential to me, and my greatest desire became to share this passion with as many people as possible.
My teacher used to say:
“If you want to be happy for a year, fall in love.
If you want to be happy for a lifetime, become a gardener.”
A gardener does not force growth.
They observe. They nurture. They wait.
And what about us?
We have forgotten how to observe ourselves.
We have become lost in the illusion that everything must happen quickly, and that the value of a life is determined by a piece of paper or by the judgement of others.
The soul is hungry every day.
It is like a field:
it must be nourished, cultivated and protected.
When we stop caring for it, the heart begins to wither.
And instead of watering it, we end up envying our neighbour’s flowers.
We resent what we see outside ourselves because we have forgotten the light we carry within.
Art is history, and it is a mirror of the human experience.
It reminds us who we are, allows us to explore our inner world and brings our uniqueness into the light.
This is why I experience art as an alchemical process:
it transforms pain into expression, vulnerability into strength, and silence into life.
