Centina is an Italian artist who have been hitting walls all over with eerie distorted portraits. His choices of surface to paint on and the subdued color scheme of his artworks evokes feelings of anxiety and doom. Yet, through their superb workmanship, his wall pieces take hold on the psyche and make one stare and stare. Powerful works from an artist whose got an even more powerful personality.

Interview by Crist Espiritu.
Artworks by Centina.

Let’s talk about your beginnings. How did you come to realize that you’ll be an artist? Who are your influences back then?

I started in young age with spray! For a while, I’ve also started to draw on paper, but nothing more. Until now I haven’t realized to be an artist, with this passion I don’t eat much, but I eat cause I work with wood.

“Influence” is something totally different from what you can see nowadays. For example now you can see a wall pic in the web with information about who done the piece, where and when. Years ago, you go around places to see wall pieces and don’t know nothing about the man behind art. So to tell you who influenced me will be useless.

What did you do to nourish your creativity early on?

My creativity grew thanks to the places I visited, experiences that I’ve lived and people I’ve met painting in abandoned place.

What would you say is your favourite part about doing art in the street?

Painting in the streets, abandoned factories and sanctuaries in the woods. I feel rich when I paint in these poor and bad places. They give me inspiration for what I will do, you know, the street gives you both love and hate.

There has been a surge of street artist for the last few years. How did you think this is affecting the public’s perception towards art?

For the last few years the number of street artists grew like mushrooms. I hope people don’t think “Oh look, I have a good hand for draw, let me see it if I can enter in this “game”. On the other hand, I also think in everyone of us there’s artist inside. The important thing is to be yourself and don’t try to copy others.

People’s perception about art changes by year. Now art is everywhere and in thousand of varieties. There are more art festivals in television and we fall every time in the same category. Different minds, different reasoning, overall different spirits!

Tell us about your current project. What is it about? What’s the inspiration behind it?

I don’t have clear or definite projects or at least streetart wise. I draw faces and delete details like eyes, nose, mouth and I pull the skin to make organic human form. These deformations and missing faces that I draw are portraits of ourselves sucked dry by technology which leaves us without emotion.

What would you say is the most important trait an artist should posses?

Spontaneity to draw freehand with a pencil, a brush or whatever.

Follow Centina on Instagram @_centina_
Follow Crist Espiritu on Twitter and Instagram @crist_espiritu