Q & A with Silvio Severino

London Collage Project

Silvio Severino was part of the crew that flew in for the Collage Expedition LONDON. It was the first time we met each other and I enjoyed spending time getting to know Silvio.

I emailed with Silvio to ask how his experience was at the residency. Here are a series of questions and answers…

QUESTIONS from the Touchonian & ANSWERS from Severino

What were your thoughts, hopes, fears, and expectations about the residency before you arrived?
I was just excited to be part of the residency — I had never done anything like this before. I tried not to have too many expectations and just let things happen naturally. I tend to get a bit anxious in new environments and around large groups, but I felt at ease from the very beginning.

Was the concept of the residency clear at the beginning compared to how the residency unfolded?
The concept was very clear, but there was also space for everyone to contribute and help shape it according to the needs of the group.

Looking back, how did the week compare to whatever you imagined?
It was much, much better than I imagined. Everyone was truly lovely, supportive, and generous. The organisation was excellent.

What were your biggest surprises, personal struggles, and successes?
I was surprised by how kind and open everyone was. Large groups can often be challenging, but this one felt easy and welcoming.

How long did it take to feel like you were on the right track?
Straight away — as soon as I sat at my table. It took me a little while to warm up creatively and start generating ideas, but that’s just how my process works. Every time I begin a new project, there’s a moment of stillness before the real flow begins. Once it did, I started creating work.

How did you feel about your interactions with the other participants and the group as a whole?
Wonderful! Everyone was incredibly helpful and supportive. I honestly don’t have a single negative thing to say about anyone. I made real friendships with the other artists. Our social gatherings were a great way to break the ice and get to know each other from the beginning.

Now that you are home, how do you feel about your overall experience?
I’m still processing it all. I keep thinking about the amazing artists I had the chance to meet. Seeing everyone’s creative process was mind-opening. The conversations we had truly expanded my perspective — not just about collage, but about what it means to be an artist. I came back feeling more knowledgeable and deeply inspired.

Any suggestions for the next one we do, based on your experience?
Keep the good energy and the warm atmosphere — that was essential. Artists are sensitive beings, and feeling welcome and supported is incredibly important.

Anything we left out or should have spent more time on?
I have a solo show coming up in Dublin at the end of the year, and I feel like I could have done more work during the residency — or at least I should have. But that’s on me; I had enough time and space. That said, some of my best pieces were created during the residency, mainly because I felt safe and creatively free in that environment.

What, if anything, do you feel will be helpful to you in the future from this experience?
The conversations, the open sharing of creative processes, and the discussions about the art world and market were incredibly valuable. Those insights will definitely stay with me and shape how I move forward.

What would be your advice for future participants?
Do it if you can! I’m so glad I had the opportunity to take part. It was a real investment in my art practice — and an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life. It truly was, for me!

Biography

Silvio Severino is a contemporary photographer, illustrator and collage artist born in Porto Allegre, Brazil, and now based in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. He studied photography and photojournalism while living in London and developed a photographic practice, but soon found himself drawn to the expanded creative opportunities of collage and began exhibiting his collage work.

He has been a participating member of the Collagistas, an international annual festival of collage, since 2014 and in 2018 helped to organize the Irish iteration of the festival in Dublin.

Collaboration is one of the cornerstones of Silvio’s practice; having lived in and photographed a variety of European locations for 15 years before making Ireland his home, he is now embedding himself in the Irish arts community and expanding his interdisciplinary arts practice as well as his curatorial practice.

In October 2019 he curated the group show Entre Mundos/Between Worlds: Images of Life between Mexico and Ireland in conjunction with University College Cork’s Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies at Cork City Library.

One of his works is on permanent display in Cork City Library’s Rory Gallagher Music Library.

His recent work has included animation for award-winning short documentary Vonnie — Ireland’s Forgotten Fashion Icon and illustration for Before the Rainbow…..and After, an arts engagement and book with older gay men at Gay Project.

In 2022 he curated the New Reality Festival of Contemporary Collage at Market House Craftworks in Cappoquin, Co Waterford and curated the New Reality Contemporary Collage exhibition in St Peter’s exhibition centre in Cork City. The latter is due a second outing in Dublin’s Gallery X in February 2023.

The above photo was taken during the exhibition at the end of the week.

Artist Statement:

Silvio is interested in exploring a range of contemporary issues through collage and gif animation: nature, urbanism, consumerism, the idealization of beauty and sexuality, capitalism, and the banality of celebrity culture are all grist to his mill.

He works in both analogue and digital formats, which allows him to traverse territories of the traditional and the contemporary.

Silvio’s quest for new visual languages sees him incorporating photography, collage, and animation to create new formats that blur the boundaries between genre, technique and style. Photography becomes collage, collage becomes animated gif or video art: a freedom from constraint is both experienced by the artist and sensed by the viewer.

Silvio’s work places him at an exciting new frontier in contemporary art where techniques merge in the pursuit of free expression.