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  • Date
    23 NOVEMBER 2022
    Author
    MIRA WANDERLUST
    Image by
    ALFRED PIETRONI
    Categories
    Fashion

    Alfred Pietroni, dark avant-garde digital artist taking our minds into a fashion sci-fi fantasy


    Digital artist Alfred Pietroni creates digital dark avant-garde artworks by exploring the features of 3D softwares in unexpected ways. His mystic artworks made by puzzles and digital fashion capsules are something very different because he deliberately creates objects or figures and their renderings to create effects that look like mind games. In the interview below we talk about Alfred's background, his process, his artworks and the future of digital art.  

     

     

     

    Hi Alfred, welcome to RED•EYE, can you tell us about yourself? How has your cultural background influenced your path to digital art? How would you describe your work in three words? 

    Hi there, thanks for the opportunity. I’m quite a hermit, an introverted individual at my very core; at peace when I am creating or designing something on my own. I can spend a whole day sculpting in my dimly lit mini studio room with nothing but the monitor glare on my face, my thoughts and ideas ticking over. Growing up I had my own space and time, my quiet places for drawing and painting became my sanctuaries. My family introduced me to various facets of the world that have shaped me today. My sister introduced me to fashion and pop-culture, with my brother it was fantasy worlds, music, manga and video games and my mum with art, punk and comic books. All of these facets shaped my view of the world and in turn the world that I want to create with my art. If I could describe my work in three words they would be: fashion, fantasy, horror. That seems too linear and obvious however, so I prefer to describe my art as trying to piece together a puzzle of the universe in my head where the puzzle pieces are fragments of my imagination and influences.  

     

     

     

    Where did you start as a digital artist? Did you explore other forms of art first? What artists of the past or present have inspired you?  

    I have always incorporated digital art into my practice. If I look back 4 years ago I was drawing in quite a graphic style, just black and white pieces using pen and ink, but with those pieces I would still take them to photoshop, clean them, darken up areas, add block shadows etc. I loved the sketchy nature of hand rendering but always felt like I couldn’t quite create what I wanted to. If you look on my instagram back to 2018 you can see my first 3D sculpt using ZBrush digital sculpting software. It’s of a character called Rot, the render is technically terrible but my mind was blown by what you could do with digital 3D and the infinite possibilities. As well as digital sculpting I also began heavily exploring digital painting and created a portfolio of work with varied mediums but journeying towards one fantasy pathway. My favourite artists are Hieronymus Bosch, H.R Giger, Kevin O’Neill, Takayoshi Sato, Kentaro Miura, Junji Ito, Yoshitaka Amano. These visionaries, and many more have both infected and accelerated my mind.  

     

     

     

    “A granted wish capsule” is exploring blood, dirt, growth and rebirth. How was this project born and how did you develop your style for it? Was it an experimental process? How has this improved your growth as an artist? 

    In A Granted Wish Capsule I wanted to explore a rough, dirty, bloody and bruised fashion runway. This collection focused on strong and empowered women, fighting through the fleshy membrane of life. They are resilient, fierce and they have to push back and fight to survive. When I go to create a look It’s always a deeply experimental process. I rarely have a whole idea fleshed out in my head, I will just sculpt and let it organically grow, shift and change until it feels right. This collection helped me improve my sculpting techniques and shape my overall vision and creative process. With AGWC and all my projects I strive to create imperfect and raw designs that tackle fantasy themes and the dark atmosphere of isolation, survival and the rust, dirt and joy of life.  

     

     

     

    We found “Puzzle Locks” and “Open the gates” something we want to explore forever because they are about mind training. What motivates you as an artist when it comes to making projects like these? Is it curiosity, the search for the unknown or meaning? 

    The Puzzle Lock project came from the desire to build up anticipation for the launch of my website. I thought it would be interesting to have my followers solve a series of four puzzles in order to unlock my first drop of merch. The first two puzzles were born from Silent Hill, I basically re-wrote two of the riddles from there; the Coin Puzzle and the Brookhaven Keypad. I felt confident enough to script my own riddles in the same style on my 3rd and 4th puzzles; The Guilty Man’s Face and The Multilock. I ended up really fascinated by the idea of interacting with people and challenging them to solve something and it of course tapped into my want to include more gamification elements into my art practice and develop my narrative building for the future. I make projects like this because I enjoy the mystery and storytelling of art.  

     

     

     

    What subject matters interest you? What are some of the stories behind your work? 

    I like clashing concepts together, creating melting pots of themes and exploring juxtapositions of contradicting styles. Balancing the line between humour and horror, beauty and ugliness, cuteness and violence. With my digital runway collections and If I ever get to do a real fashion show I aspire to walk the path trodden by Alexander McQueen or Demna with Balenciaga, with a strong emphasis on theatre, drama and atmosphere. With my art I want to reflect the world I see and the world I don’t see.  

     

     

     

    What are some of the tools you use to create your style of artwork?

    Zbrush, Keyshot, Photoshop, Illustrator. Next year I will be really pushing myself, developing my animation and software flexibility. I plan to pick up After Effects, C4D, Blender, Substance Painter. 

     

     

    What do you predict for the future of this kind of art? Where would you like to see it go and why?

    Digital art in the wider sphere seems to be spiraling, evolving and mutating. The Metaverse, digital fashion and the mirroring worlds of these will most likely be accelerating in the coming years and I’m here to step into those worlds. It’s also interesting to see what AI art can do and what people can do with new forms of digital media and creation software that challenge the very fabric of art making. For me however I want to put one foot into the future and keep one foot in the past. I am not sure where I would like to see the future of art, I can only talk for myself and my practice; I am not seeking perfection or absolute technical clarity, I want to harness emotion and atmosphere and use art to draw my world. My practice and the tools I use will develop and shift as the world does, the future is not written.  

     

     

     

    A letter to your future self. What would you write? 

    Go back in time to 1995 to stop Skynet and prevent Judgement Day.  

     

     

        

     

     

    @alfred.pietroni

     

     

     

    Interview @mirawanderlust