Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Rossarolla.
Hi Adriana, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born in the south of Brazil to a family of Italian immigrants. I grew up dreaming to be an artist, but I always heard they were either “starving” or “crazy.” I was born just after a tragedy in my family – my brother, cousin, and my mom’s sister died in a car accident. My mom lost her connection with life, and I could see her sadness and resentment toward God. We were all Catholics – and God can be bad? Why? Are we guilty of something? These were the questions with which I grew up. Somehow my dream was to answer those questions for my mom and define God for her. No time to play and be a child. I had a mission to save her.
I knew my only way to survive would be through art. I did modeling, drama school, writing… until one day, I realized that everything I doing was an attempt to find my voice.
I moved to London to learn English, and spent years traveling around Europe working odd jobs. I fell in love, and it took me a decade to get over it. It was a struggle to understand love since nobody taught me to love myself.
My mom discovered a tumor, and I moved back to Brazil. She lasted two years. My father’s health declined as well; I spend two more years by his side. I was losing my last roots and still hadn’t found my voice. I met a man, we married in Brazil, and I moved to his city – Huntsville, Alabama. Love seemed to have a shape in my life until the shape became distorted to the point, I couldn’t see love. We got divorced. I saw myself again looking for my voice.
I got a job that was long hours and boring, but in my few hours off I started to paint. I could transfer to the canvas and drawings the love I wanted. My father died in 2010. I moved to San Francisco in 2012, dreaming of being an artist.
I couldn’t make it. Again, a cycle of jobs and relationships that were not about love, and I was disconnected again from my voice.
My inner voice. The intuition. The real being – I am. The creator. They all spoke to me and I could tell my mom – “Hey, don’t be angry. It’s no one’s fault.” We will always feel victimized by something – our parents’ neglect, society’s indifference… this is not a perfect world. We are all here to work on ourselves, and we must accept whatever challenge we are born to face. God is Who lives within our faith. We can make life better.
My mom never heard my voice.
But now I sing my song.
After the pandemic, I decided I will face the challenge of being an artist although I’m not in my teens anymore. Maybe, I’m reclaiming my childhood. That’s how I feel. I can play now. I can have fun. I can be free.
Maybe it’s important to rebel and show the world what we are against too. More importantly, I think, is to show the world we want to love, we want to play, we want to show up. Do our work with Grace. With Faith. With Trust. With Strength. With Love.
We want to connect.
We all want God. In our own way.
My artwork celebrates it.
Adriana Rossarolla
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I think the most challenging part is to be able to produce all you want and still pay your bills. Somehow the road to peace faces a lot of noise. I really need to be at peace and involved with meditation, sports, or nature as this helps me to stay in the mental state I need. The most significant asset we have is time. It isn’t money. The “time is money” prophecy is quite cruel.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I have been developing my images with the idea of transcending the objects and actions we normally talk about so they became insignificant.
For example, I have a painting called “The Value of Truth.” It’s a crown of thorns on a purple pillow. There are flower buds blooming off the thorns. On the side, there’s a gavel. I see the painting as representing an auction. I don’t mean to talk about Jesus, but people relate to the crown of thorns as his symbol. Well, maybe Jesus is the symbol of life because he talked about Love like no one else did, right? Maybe the flower coming out of a thorn is a symbol of life going beyond death. It’s true, isn’t it? If you cut a plant, generally it keeps growing. Life transcends our intelligence and the comprehension we have about ourselves. We all die, and life continues on. So, what’s the value of truth? Who will pay the highest price to know the truth? That’s what the painting is about. I’m just raising questions. Are we going to get into this university of ourselves and get to know who we are? Or we are going to just create an artificial version of us?
We have to raise these questions because society is riding a very fast horse now. We can’t slow the speed, but we need to transcend this shortsightedness and find out our true nature before it’s too late.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Perseverance. Determination. Love. Voice. Grace. Willingness to make things more beautiful. Recognition of our transitory experiences and tremendous awareness. Gratitude to have a chance, every day, to make things better and more beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.adrianarossarolla.com
- Instagram: adrianarossarolla.artist
