Giada Grasso is a self-taught Italian visual artist whose practice explores the concept of identity through psychology, philosophy, and symbolic representation. Working primarily in oil on canvas, she has developed a figurative language that intertwines realism and surrealism to investigate the relationship between the individual, perception, and the unconscious.
At the core of her practice is the mask, understood not as a disguise but as an archetype and a psychological device through which identity is constructed, fragmented, and transformed. Drawing inspiration from Carl Gustav Jung's archetypes, Hermann Rorschach's inkblot test, and Luigi Pirandello's reflections on the multiplicity of the self, she creates symbolic narratives that invite viewers to engage with the complexity of human experience.
The design and handcrafted creation of costumes and masks form an essential part of her artistic process. Later translated into painting, these elements expand the narrative dimension of her work, dissolving the boundaries between object, performance, and representation.
In recent years, her research has expanded through intercultural dialogue. During an artist residency in Chengdu, China, she explored the relationship between the Italian Harlequin and Bian Lian, the ancient "face-changing" tradition of Sichuan Opera, interpreting the mask as a universal archetype capable of transcending geographical and cultural boundaries.
Her work has been exhibited in Italy, China, and the United States. Through a practice that combines painting, symbolism, and the construction of masks, Giada Grasso investigates identity as a constantly evolving process, suspended between individual experience and the collective imagination.
Giada Grasso lives and works in Milan. She has received various awards for her work, including:
1st Place Winner category Painting Festival dell'Immagine, Castello di Martina Franca 2025Special Prize Arte Laguna Prize, Residency NY+20 Chengdu China 20241st Place Winner Estatarte International Gallery, Area Contesa Arte, July 15, 2022 - September 18, 2022, Rome.1st Place Winner- Most Significant Work, January 22, 2021, International Gallery, Area Contesa Arte, Rome.1st Place Winner International Dante Alighieri Award - Inferno Review, May 12, 2021, International Gallery, Area Contesa Arte, Rome.
Exhibitions
VIGEVANO BIENNALE, CAVALLERIZZA DEL CASTELLO, Vigevano 2026IDENTITA' SIMBOLICHE E MEMORIA, Gli Eroici Furori, Milan, June - July 2025FUORISALONE MILANO- Fuorisalone, Scutari 3, Milan, April 2025(SOLO EXHIBITION) THE RORSCHACH SERIES
, in collaboration with the
Lombardy Order of Psychologists, Casa degli Psicologi, Milan, November 2024FUORISALONE MILANO - Fuorisalone, Scutari 3, Milan, April 2024SIX IN VENICE- Palazzo Ruzzini, Venice, April 2024 - November 2024.VERNISSAGE ROME - 1911 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles (CA), March 2024.SANREMO ART SHOW - Ex Church of Santa Brigida, Sanremo, February 2024.SIX EXHIBITION - San Babila Gallery, Milan, January 2024.FUORISALONE MILANO 2023 - Fuorisalone, MA-EC Gallery, Milan, April 17-23, 2023.HAVE A DREAM - MA-EC Gallery, Milan, November 10-19, 2022.ESTATARTE INTERNATIONAL - Area Contesa Arte, Rome, July 15, 2022 - September 18, 2022.INTERNATIONAL DANTE ALIGHIERI AWARD - INFERNO- Area Contesa Arte, Rome, May 12, 2021.ART ACADEMY AWARD INTERNATIONAL- Area Contesa Arte, Rome, January 22, 2021.
