Antonio Schiavano explores material and form through photography, creating a distinctive visual language he calls “Photomorphia,” a term coined by the artist to define his personal material-based technique. Drawing from photographic images produced throughout his commercial career—fashion, beauty, and cosmetics campaigns—or from contemporary shots captured in his 10 Watt studio in Milan, each image becomes the starting point for a material and creative intervention. Printed on Canson paper for smaller formats or on Dibond aluminum for larger works, the photographs are then treated with oils, various paints and pigments, plaster, and abrasive materials in a process that merges painting and sculpture.

The method

Each material intervention originates from the inspiration of the moment. The artist carefully decides what to emphasize and what to soften, often focusing on details such as the eyes and lips, which are essential for conveying the emotional intensity of the human face. The marks left by abrasive materials and pigments are never random: scratches, traces, glazes, and accumulations become integral to the visual narrative, creating tension between surface and depth, reality and perception.

Main projects

The two main projects in which Schiavano applies Photomorphia are The Beauty and the Bane and Dysmorphia

• The Beauty and the Bane rejects the standardized concept of beauty imposed by the media, embracing imperfections and marks as tools to convey authenticity and truth.
• Dysmorphia addresses the vulnerability of self-perception: it shows how individuals may become obsessed with correcting real or imagined imperfections, highlighting the conflict between stereotype and personal identity.
• OltreLaPelle is a meditation on coexistence and integration, where diversity transforms into harmony.

These projects complement each other, making Photomorphia a powerful tool to reflect on contemporary identity and body perception.

Photomorphia Across the Three Projects: Meaning and Function

In The Beauty and the Bane, Photomorphia takes on an explicitly critical and generative role. The material interventions, scratches, abrasions, and layered paint, do not act as a subtraction of the image, nor as an act of destruction. On the contrary, they add meaning. The photographic surface, originally smooth and aligned with the codes of commercial photography, is enriched with new layers of interpretation: the material introduces time, imperfection, and a sense of reality, transforming the image into a site of more complex experience.

In this sense, imperfection is not a deficiency, but an added value. The marks do not negate beauty; rather, they reformulate it, rescuing it from standardization and restoring a more authentic, layered dimension. Photomorhia thus becomes a tool for the re-signification of the image: what appears “wounded” on the surface is, in reality, an expansion of its expressive and symbolic potential.

In Dysmorphia, Photomorphia carries an intimate and psychological tension. Here, the intervention on the image does not produce harmonious enrichment but a perceptual fracture. The material modifications further distort features, amplify details, and erase references, rendering the recognition of face and body increasingly unstable. The technique thus mirrors the very mechanism of dysmorphic perception: an obsessive process of correction that, rather than clarifying identity, distorts and fragments it, highlighting the conflict between the idealized image and lived experience.

In OltreLaPelle, Photomorphia becomes a tool for inclusion and integration. The abrasions and material layers do not create fracture or distortion but rather enhance the dialogue between people and cultures, imparting complexity and depth to the bodies depicted. The material intervention amplifies reciprocity, making visible what lies beyond the surface and beyond the color of the skin. Here, the technique emphasizes that true beauty and authenticity emerge from encounter, sharing, and the ability to embrace the other in their entirety, transforming photography into a space of integration and synergy.

Discover Antonio Schiavano’s projects and exhibitions to learn more about Photomorphia.