Nadia Vallino (known as Norma) was born in the summer of 2000 and, after pursuing scientific studies, ventured into the uncertain territory of a possible politics of emotions. In 2021, she moved to Rome to study sculpture and installation at RUFA, graduating in 2025. Her journey was enriched by experiences in Madrid and Reykjavík, where she collaborated with the Icelandic Art Center, the Living Art Museum, and TAI. In Iceland, she explored emptiness as a perceptual dimension, while in Madrid she worked as a set designer for Brodo di bimbi. She took part in Semi Veri (Rome Art Week 2021), Body Sound Division (Madrid, 2023), Performance Cluster 2024, and completed an internship at the Icelandic Art Center. Her research stems from a desire to understand intimate and relational dynamics in contemporary society. Perceiving a lack of historical framing in this field, she explores possible narratives through the perspective of new generations. In her most recent works, irony becomes a key to accessing a more genuine, almost childlike emotional imagination—a place where to start over, questioning the idea that seriousness always equates to substance.
Her artistic practice explores intimate and relational dynamics in contemporary society—a context marked by appearances and emotional capitalism, which drives the commodification of people and emotions. Using a variety of media—from sculpture to video art—she creates environments that evoke emotional voids and absences, pushing the viewer to confront a sense of lack. Irony plays a fundamental role, opening the door to an emotional imagination that, while maintaining a childlike purity, challenges the notion that seriousness is the only valid form of content. She questions the difficulty of navigating a society that promotes the homogenization of emotions and experiences, reducing them to prepackaged consumables. A critical reflection on roles and identities is essential to counter the one-dimensional, consumerist view of what is considered ‘true,’ offering instead a reading of the dynamics between subjectivity and collectivity, where vulnerability emerges as a potential form of resistance.
