Pia De Girolamo

Lives and works in Philadelphia, PA, USA

Artist statement

My recent acrylic paintings explore the urban and suburban landscapes of Philadelphia, where I live. I’m drawn to compositions that capture visual tension—how a pine cuts against the sky, or how bridges and ramps crisscross in motion. I photograph these moments, then reinterpret them in paint, sometimes revisiting the same scene with varied palettes or shifting focus. My background in art history and architecture informs this work, particularly the contrasts I find along the Schuylkill River, where historic buildings meet modern forms, and in the suburbs, where sheds and water towers coexist with pockets of nature. Earlier series focused on abstracted portraits of family and friends, a turn that grew urgent after the isolation of COVID-19. Reconnecting with loved ones rekindled my impulse to paint people, while figures in action—sometimes myself—embodied joy, energy, and intensity, countering the confinement of lockdown. During lockdown itself, I turned to botanical forms, painting from a friend’s Instagram photographs of flowers. Their shapes and structures became vessels for emotion: loss in withered lotus leaves, meditation in floating blossoms, exuberance in fiery repeating patterns. Before the pandemic, I painted landscapes inspired by travels to Patagonia, Iceland, and Italy. These works, created from memory, sketches, and photos, aimed to distill the essence of place rather than provide realism, drawing on the American modernist tradition of artists like Milton...

Artwork