Monica Talevi: Between Drawing and Light, a Personal Language Takes Shape

Monica Talevi, who signs her work under the artistic name Queen, brings to “100 Photos of Europe” a practice shaped by drawing, photography, and a deeply autobiographical approach to image-making. Based in Fano, Italy, Talevi has developed a visual language that moves freely between illustration and photography, abstraction and figuration, body and landscape. Her participation in the project places her work within a broader European context while remaining firmly grounded in an individual, lived experience.

Introduction – Setting the Scene

Talevi’s work resists clear separation between disciplines. Trained initially through local artistic education and later in fashion design, she has gradually constructed a practice in which pencil, wax, mixed media, and photographic vision coexist. Rather than following a linear artistic path, her journey reflects a series of crossings: between drawing and photography, between formal training and intuition, between personal history and shared social themes.

Living and working in Fano, her hometown, Talevi draws constant inspiration from familiar places and relationships. The city, her family, and the surrounding natural environment are not simply subjects but recurring presences that inform her way of seeing. In this sense, her work is less about representation and more about translation, of experience into form, of emotion into mark.

A Professional Identity That Stands Apart

Talevi identifies herself primarily as an illustrator, yet her artistic identity is intentionally fluid. Her drawings often explore nude portraits, abstract forms, and architectural suggestions, rendered through mixed techniques on paper. The use of pencil and wax, sometimes described as “tecnica sanguigna,” gives her works a tactile, physical quality, where the gesture remains visible and the surface retains traces of process.

Over time, her understanding of what it means to be an artist has shifted. What once felt like a distinction between the person and the artwork has become, in her words, a total fusion. Art is no longer external to her life but intertwined with it. This perspective shapes not only the content of her work but also its tone: intimate, direct, and unfiltered.

A pivotal influence in her artistic formation was her encounter with Mario Giacomelli, an experience she describes as deeply mystical. This meeting opened a path toward photography that would later expand through studies with Sergio Emanuele Anastasio, who introduced her to two opposing photographic philosophies. Rather than choosing between them, Talevi absorbed both, allowing tension and balance to coexist in her practice.

Vision, Method, and Approach

Talevi’s visual approach is built on layering, of techniques, influences, and meanings. In her drawings, lines overlap and colors accumulate, creating images that feel provisional rather than definitive. This openness mirrors her broader artistic vision: art as a living process rather than a fixed statement.

Her photographic sensibility, informed by the legacy of Magnum Photos, values essential forms, courage, and concreteness. She cites figures such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, David Seymour, George Rodger, William Vandivert, Maria Eisner, Annie Leibovitz, and Sante D'Orazio as guiding references. From them, she draws a commitment to honesty and presence rather than aesthetic perfection.

Additional studies in theater and cinema further softened her photographic language, introducing rhythm, gesture, and a sense of narrative. Whether working with the human body, architectural fragments, or natural elements, Talevi approaches each subject as a site of interaction between inner and outer worlds.

Participation in a Culturale Lab Project

Talevi discovered “100 Photos of Europe” through a sponsored post on social media, a simple encounter that quickly became meaningful. What drew her to the project was not only the opportunity for publication but the promise of an experience: a new artistic adventure to be lived fully and deeply.

For Talevi, participating in an international editorial initiative curated by Culturale Lab represents an act of affirmation. It is a way to demonstrate determination, strength, and the will to take part in a collective cultural moment. The project’s structure, which brings together artists from across Europe, aligns with her belief in art as a space of connection rather than isolation.

An International Context

Within the framework of “100 Photos of Europe,” Talevi’s work enters a dialogue that extends beyond national borders. While her practice remains rooted in personal history and local landscapes, its themes, identity, resilience, the body, and nature, resonate across contexts.

Her inclusion reflects the project’s broader aim: to map contemporary European creativity through diverse voices and approaches. Talevi’s contribution adds a perspective shaped by cross-disciplinary exploration and a refusal to separate life from art. In this sense, her work functions both as an individual statement and as part of a wider, shared visual conversation.

Looking Ahead

Alongside her ongoing illustration and photographic practice, Talevi looks toward new projects. She envisions traveling to the Netherlands to photograph tulip fields, extending her exploration of nature through a distinctly photographic lens. At the same time, she expresses the desire to realize a personal monograph, a project that would allow her to bring together the different strands of her artistic journey in a single, coherent form.

Her outlook remains guided by a philosophy of positive thinking, shaped by a life and artistic path she describes as complex and winding. The central message she offers to viewers is one of perseverance: the conviction that nothing is impossible and that giving up is never an option.

Contact & Links

Website: https://www.monicatalevi.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monica.talevi
100 Photos of Europe: https://culturalelab.com/join-the-book-100-photos-of-europe/