Barbara Pastorino was born in Varallo in 1970 and lives and works in Milan. Art has always been her passion: although after graduating from high school with a degree in classical studies, she studied economics at Bocconi University, but she also pursued artistic activity from the very beginning, taking various drawing and painting courses and engraving workshops at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti di Milano).

Nature, travel, and literature are the sources of inspiration for her work. Her great love is nature, and in particular the most remote and untouched landscapes, which constitute the planet’s greatest wealth and must be preserved at all costs. Another great passion is travel, understood as the opportunity to discover the diversity and heterogeneity of the world. Finally, literature, particularly the Odyssey, Greek mythology, and archaeology, are the sources that have inspired her most recent works. Her works are abstract, characterized by a predominance of material and color over form. She uses acrylic paints, enamels, and pigments, favoring the freedom that large formats offer.

She was one of the joint winners of the group exhibition “Artist’s Book – Reimagining the Book” in October 2016, curated by Circuiti Dinamici of Milan, with her 2016 engraving “Odissea.” She has participated in numerous group exhibitions at the Bracco Foundation in Milan, the Musei Civici Cremaschi, and the Fondazione Stecca in Milan. One of her works is in the collection of the private Copelouzos Museum in Athens. She is a founding member of the international group IOAC, International Online Art Collective, founded in March 2020 by artists from eight different countries. Her paintings are part of private collections in USA, Canada, Italy, Austria, Germany, Greece, and are on permanent display in Milan.

Selected Exhibitions and Awards

2022
• Νόστος the return to Ithaca, Galleria Maiocchi15, Milan

2021
• SyArt Sorrento Festival 5th edition, Villa Fiorentino, Sorrento  

2020
• Escape Route, Galleria Maiocchi15, Milan