Artist Interview: Jessica Ticchio
Jessica Ticchio is a digital artist and designer from Sydney, Australia, and the creative director of Studio Messa. Drawing inspiration from minimalism, surrealism, and sculptural forms, she explores the harmony between physical and virtual spaces through 3D art, AI, and VR sculptures, as well as immersive experiential designs. Her art, often surreal and dreamlike, invites viewers to question the boundaries of reality while encouraging introspection and wonder.
The artist’s creations have made their way onto international platforms, from Vogue Magazine to Shanghai’s Modern Art Museum and LA’s Art Angels Gallery. In 2023, her piece “Future Of The Past” appeared on two massive digital billboards in Paris and Hong Kong, showcasing her talent on a global scale. With over a decade of experience, Jessica has worked with renowned luxury brands like Nike, Dior, and Chanel. In 2024, she was nominated for the Créateurs Design Award for ‘Excellence in Digital Art,’ solidifying her status as a leader in the contemporary art and design world.
We asked Jessica about her art, creative process, and inspirations.
View From Villa Verde
Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?
I’ve always loved so many different areas of art & design and found it difficult to settle on one – I studied graphic design, object design and spatial design, plus spent a lot of time hand illustrating, taking film photos and playing with clay. When I met my partner David Porte Beckefeld, he introduced me to 3D and I finally experienced a creative practice that gave me the freedom to explore all of these different design realms in one space. Life changing!!
Into The Unknown
You blend minimalism and surrealism so beautifully in your work! How did those two styles become such big influences for you?
I’ve always loved minimalism and the deep consideration of form or subject that comes with having a more refined composition. Surrealism, on the other hand, has been my favourite style ever since I was a child – growing up going to galleries with my dad and flicking through art books of Salvador Dali, one of his (and now my) favourite artists. As a teen, I fixated on surrealism through hand illustration of distorted realities - people with faces melted and stretched (but not in a scary way lol… more like the clocks of Dali). Growing up, I also loved - and I still love - the dreamlike qualities and mesmorising compositions of Rob Gonsalves.
Sky Sculpture
Can you tell us about some of your favorite pieces? What makes them special to you?
I’m VERY excited about my current project “Eternal” as it’s my first exploration of 3D printing a physical piece from a virtual sculpture I created using VR & Cinema4D. My digital work often speaks to dreams and the ephemeral, but I wanted my first physical sculpture to look more to that greater sense of permanence that can come hand in hand with physicality.
This project has been completely collaborative with Johnny Cache of Solid State who is a true master of 3D printing experimentation, pushing the boundaries and teaching me so much around materials, finishes & technique along the way.
Sculpting process
You seem to have a special connection with sculpture, whether it's digital or physical. What draws you to those forms?
I really love the heritage and classical feel inherent to sculpture – being Italian, stone columns & ornate statues are just part of the furniture at my Nonno & Nonna’s home, and when I travelled to Italy for the first time I was so mesmerised by the grandiose sculptures that are basically everywhere. To me, a sculpture just feels so… special — a sculpted form feels so intentional, bespoke and crafted. I can’t help but think of the insane amount of time & skill it would have taken to hand form sculptures back in ancient times and the fact that so many still stand today (in immaculate condition) blows my mind.
I don’t feel the contemporary art I create holds this weight of history, BUT exploring the medium of sculpture in my contemporary art practice is a way I definitely feel more tethered to my European heritage and I love that.
Butterfly
You’ve worked with some big names like Nike, Dior, and Chanel – how do you keep your personal artistic vision while also creating for such well-known brands?
Whether I’m designing for global brands or making art in my own personal practice, I’ll always come back to this idea of reimagining the world through a contemporary art lens. I’m so mesmerised by illusions and moments in my everyday life that feel surreal — like a reflection in water that flips the world upside, or when you’re looking through a plane window and you can see clouds casting shadows on the land below. Sometimes natural sunlight illuminates an object so much it looks like it’s glowing, or you’re walking in the path and suddenly the trees line up perfectly when viewed from a very specific angle — when natural elements I encounter feel curated and intentional. I take a lot of inspiration from moments like this.
Vogue June print issue
Experiential design is becoming a big thing in the art world. How do you see that evolving, especially with the rise of AI and VR?
I’m obsessed with the exploration of experiential design in the art world – creating experiences and immersive spaces that people can be consumed by, escaping their everyday and being transported to another realm. It’s such a magical thing!! There’s no limit in the world of experiential either – especially with the combination of VR headsets and AI generated footage, digital immersive experiences will, of course, show up much more in the near future. Like anything though, I believe a saturation of exclusively digital experiences will still result in a yearning for more human, tangible connections and hand-crafted physical spaces.
Butterfly
Have there been any surprising or memorable responses to your work?
A random person on Twitter commented they had watched one of my animation loops on repeat for 30 minutes - the original loop went for 10 seconds so that really stuck with me.
Hong Kong, Future Of The Past
What is a fun fact about you?
My dad is a graphic designer and illustrator so been exposed to the creative world for as long as I can remember. When I was 7, dad taught me the basics of Adobe illustrator which I loved to use to draw pictures when I went to his work :~)
New Moon
What would we most probably find you doing if not creating art?
Lately it would be walking around the park with over ear headphones (that are too big for my head) listening to something like Skeleten on repeat, stopping every now & then to sit down and sketch ideas :~)
