Education
2020- 2021 Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy, Master in Theology and Arts, Naples, Italy
2014- 2015 ISD of Naples, Master in Interior Design, Naples, Italy
2010 Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Training in Mosaics Conservation, Pompei, Italy
2009-2010, National Archaeology Museum of Naples, Training in Ancient Metals Conservation, Naples, Italy
2009 Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Masters Degree in Cultural Objects Restoration, Naples, Italy, with graduation grade 110/110 com laude.
2009 Partenope Studio Association, Master in Painting Conservation, Naples Italy
2008 - 2009 Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Training in Mural Painting Conservation, Pompei, Italy
2008 Suor Orsola Benincasa, Training in Gold Leaf Cover and Marble Imitation, Naples, Italy
2007 Federico II University, Bachelor Degree in Archaeology and History of Arts, Naples, Italy, with graduation grade 110/110 com laude.
2006 Archaeological Areas of Elea-Velia, Training in Archaeological Excavations Techniques,Velia, Italy
2006 Archaeological Areas of Cerveteri, Training in Archaeological Methods, Cerveteri, Italy
Professional Activites
2022 Working on the Plastic Age collection
2020-2021 Mosaic decoration of the Church of Our Lady of Peace, Angri (SA)
2019- 2020 Mosaic decoration of the altar of the Church of San Potito, Cervinara (AV)
2018 – 2019 Mosaic decoration of one Chapel of the Sanctuary of San Gerardo Majella, Caposele (AV)
2012, Teacher of artistic mosaic at "Bottega del Mosaico" with artistic workshops for children and adults
2010-2011, Teacher of artistic mosaic at Partenope Studio Association, Naples (Italy)
2009, Restoration of the facade of Villa Fraulo with the restorer Tudor Dinca, Ravello, Italy
2009 Restoration of the facade of the Curch of Saint Aegidius with the restorer Tudor Dinca, Giffoni Vallepiana, Italy
2008 Restoration of the Mural Paintings of the Convent of San Giovanni del Palco, with Acanfora Restauri s.r.l. Taurano, Italy
2008, Restoration of the wooden choir with golden leaves in the Sanctuary of the "Santa Spina", Petilia Policastro, Italy with Acanfora Restauri s.r.l.
2008 Restoration of the Ancient Arsenals of the Amalfi Republic with Acanfora Restauri s.r.l
2008 Restoration of the Mural Paintings of the Church of San Giovanni Maggiore with Giovanna Izzo Restauri s.a.s.
2008 Restoration of the ancient marble columns and of the baptismal font in the Cathedral of the Assumption of Saint Mary of the Scaligers , Ischia Ponte with Giovanna Izzo Restauri s.a.s., Ischia Ponte, italy.
Commission
2013-2022 Portrait and home decorations for private customers
2012 Transition from painting by Artist Carmine Pandolfi, to mosaic for the Museum dedicated to him, Agropoli, Italy
2012 Transition from painting to mosaic of the icon Madonna di Montevergine, for the square of Poggiomarino
2011 Private commission of a mosaic 3x0,75m of personal design.
2011 Private commission of two mosaics on the theme of the Amalfi coast
2010 Conservation of five wood polychrome statues, Amalfi, Italy
2009 Conservation of two oil paintings of the XIX century
Simona Proto was born in Naples, a city rich in history, art and culture. Always passionate about art in all its facets, she graduated from classical high school, which laid the foundations of her curiosity towards mythology, history, literature and ancient art. Thus, she continued her training by enrolling in the degree course in Archaeology and History of the Arts at the Federico II University in Naples, where she graduated with honors in 2007. At the end of this course, however, she felt that her theoretical training was missing something: she wanted to enter into the substance, to understand deeply how the works she admired were made and their deep structure. For this reason, she decided to continue her studies by enrolling in the degree course in Diagnostics and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, graduating with honors in 2009. During those years of study, she was able to "get her hands" physically on ancient works, removing encrustations left by time, containing damages made by previous interventions, mixing natural adhesives, filling her eyes with the varied color of pigments, seeing the flourishing of the original beauty of forgotten objects. Among the different experiences gained in those years, one of them really changed her life: the restoration intervention on a mosaic floor in the Archaeological Area of Pompeii. She was deeply fascinated by those small tiles, cut by hand, placed in a precise way to create a rhythm in which the spaces left empty, like the pauses of a melody, play a role of equal importance to the full in the final perception. Not to mention, then, the tiny tiles placed in wavy lines to create the faces of tiny works in vermicolato. She was completely enchanted to think that, behind all this, there had been the skillful hand of a craftsman who had decided how precisely to cut that stone, to create a certain shape, that had chosen wisely the different types of marble to create shades. So she began to study the mosaic technique, first as a self-taught, and then attending the Venetian workshops, feeling an incredible emotion in finding that the mosaic instruments have never changed: everything is still realized today with a simple hammer, at most with knippers, and with the ability, matured over time, to "measure" with the eyes the size and shape of the small pieces that you want to make, before giving the shot that will break the material irremediably. In Venice she got to know the Italian smalti, an incredible material, capable of giving life to works that change completely according to how the light is reflected on the tiles. Since then, she has started her artistic journey, recognizing in the mosaic a powerful tool of investigation of colors and shapes of reality. Thinking about it, looking back, it seems that nothing happens by chance: the mosaic is in a sense very similar to the work that is carried out in the pictorial integrations during the restoration.
As in that case, in fact, we are obliged not to mix, not to blend, but to reconstruct a color, breaking it down into the colors that form it. It’s a deep investigation, which makes you recognize hidden and unexpected colors and find original forms in the structure of things. At least, this is the interest that moves Simona Proto more and more towards this technique, which she therefore uses in an unconventional way. Seeing any of her works, there will never be a tile next to the other of the same color, as well as easily you will find unexpected tones, especially in the flesh tones, which are for her a continuous challenge. During these years, her works have been highly appreciated by the community of international mosaic artists for their realism and the personal use of colors. Recently she has worked in the religious mosaic decoration field, as the work of about 30 square meters,conceived, designed and built for the Sanctuary of San Gerardo Majella of Caposele. At the same time, however, she continued her artistic research, interested in the last year to develop a cycle of works on the theme of ecology. In fact, she felt the need to tell, to give life to a series of images that went to starve in her mind for the many stimuli of our current reality, which rightly can be called the Plastic Age. In this cycle, in addition to the purely said mosaics, which never leave her, she developed a personal technique. Having understood, in fact, that the way she means the mosaic is essentially a research on colors and shapes, she replicated this same way of working, using simple felt-tip pens, and ink liners for the leaks. Her current research is aimed at this: combining the ancient and the modern, in the creation of works that tell a dystopian future and, in some ways, irreverent, in a continuous flow of references to the past.
