Who are you? Tell yourself.

I’m Leonardo Frigo and I’m an Italian artist. I create and paint in a studio in London, where I have been living for seven years. My work is a combination of my greatest passions: art, drawing, craftsmanship and literature. I was born in Asiago in 1993 and I have a very deep connection with my land, so living abroad is not easy for me, but I’m lucky because I can come back often. I work on my projects to spread and share Italian culture both in Italy and abroad, involving an international audience. London allows me to do just that. I like to think that through exhibitions, performances or even just by sharing my work online, for example through social media, I can bring the international public closer to Italian culture.

Why did you choose this word to represent yourself?

My word is perseverance. It’s a very important word for me. Perseverance and determination in pursuing my dreams and goals. I remember when I was a kid and studying in Asiago, and I dreamt of creating art, which is my greatest passion, and making a living out of it. The reason why I chose perseverance is because I think that building a path and believing in it, day after day, is extremely important. To achieve your goals you must be ready to invest time and make sacrifices. Perseverance has led me, for example, to leave my land and move to London to pursue my dream of sharing our culture. I think about and use this word every day, when I work or when I paint. The word perseverance also gives me strength when life is a little challenging. I feel that perseverance is something everyone, and especially an artist, needs to have, because the world of craftsmanship, art, creative people is very demanding. This word accompanies us in the life-long journey that creativity represents. London offers many possibilities to creative people; however, it’s hard for me to find the tranquillity that the woods of the Plateau, or a walk in the mountains give me, the tranquillity I need to find inspiration. Life in London is very fast-paced, so there are pros and cons for creative people; it is certainly a place of many opportunities but, personally speaking, I can’t find neither inspiration nor time! Inspiration comes to me when I return to Italy. London is where I make and create rather than “think”; London is my laboratory, it is where I work. It is when I am in Italy, when I travel around Italy, that I feel inspired, I look at things, I write down ideas. Italy is where the mind is freer. London is my workshop, it’s the lab where I create.

To get to where you are, you had to strongly believe in yourself, in your idea, in your project: do you therefore think that believing in something with conviction always makes it possible?

I feel that strongly believing in an idea or project does not always make it happen, or at least not in the short term. As I said, my favourite word is perseverance, which makes turning a project, a story, or a work into a successful endeavour possible. Hard work, and believing in oneself and others can make it possible.

Your area of origin is full of inventors, entrepreneurs, artists, writers and sportsmen who, with talent and stubbornness, dedicate every day of their lives to putting into practice what they believe in to make their dreams come true, overcoming their limits. What has the territory you come from transmitted to you? And how do you feel about it?

I was born and raised in the Asiago Plateau and I have a very strong bond with my land. I come back from London as often as possible, every two or three months. My land is really important to me. The place where I was born was my first source of inspiration. The people and the community have taught me that nothing is impossible and if you have dreams and work hard, if you persevere, you can achieve great things. I have a very strong bond with my land, I have very deep roots here, especially in the Asiago Plateau. I feel love for my land, especially for the landscapes and the nature that surrounds the Asiago Plateau, and this makes it very difficult for me to live in a city, and I do dream of coming back here one day.

Are you aware that yours is an “EXTRAordinary” story? And what do you think makes it truly “EXTRAordinary”?

I don’t think that my story is extraordinary, but I want it to become extraordinary. I’m working, I’m 30, I still have many dreams. I want to make my story an extraordinary one, but I also want to be able to share it with many people, which I think will make it extraordinary.