Malu Zanelato is a Brazilian visual artist specializing in collage, creating dreamlike imagery inspired by surrealism and dadaism. Her work beautifully explores the divine feminine, portraying women as mystical and ethereal beings deeply connected to nature. Through her collages, Malu visually represents the symbiosis between women, the universe, and its cycles, often drawing on the rich symbolism of tarot to add depth and mystery to her art.

Malu began creating handmade collages in 2016 during a challenging time, using art as a way to express herself and find solace. In 2020, her creative journey evolved as she transitioned to digital collages, rediscovering her passion for the medium. Deeply spiritual, Malu integrates her studies of self-knowledge and spirituality into every aspect of her life and art, creating works that feel like visual manifestations of dreams — where thoughts, emotions, and archetypes come together in a poetic and mysterious way.

We asked Malu about her art, creative process, and inspirations.

Can you tell us about your background as a digital artist? How did you get started in this field?

In 2016 I was going through a challenging period in my life and I needed to express myself in some way, so I started making handmade collages. I really identified with the process and the results I was getting as I got deeper into it. Over the years, in 2020, I felt the need to change the aesthetic of my work because I was no longer identifying with it visually, and that's when I started to make digital collages and fell in love with the process again... since then my work has been mostly digital.

The sacred feminine, tarot symbolism, and the universe are key themes in your collages. How do these elements come together in your work, and what do they represent to you personally?

I am a very spiritual person and my studies on spirituality and self-knowledge are always very present in all aspects of my life, especially in my art. I believe that all these themes complement each other and result in my collages, rather like our most frequent thoughts during the day translate into dreams at night. I've always seen a lot of connection between women, nature and the universe, its cycles and phases, and I like to represent this symbiosis visually. And tarot symbolism has always been a source of inspiration for me because I find it incredible how so many feelings, ideas, phases of life and archetypes can be represented in such a mysterious way as in tarot illustrations and cartomancy in general.

What is your creative process like when working on a new collage? Do you have any rituals or routines that help you get into the right mindset?

My creative process is very intuitive, I don't have a certain way of preparing to make a collage, I feel like they come naturally after I sit down and start playing with the images. I spend hours looking for new images and elements and this is the most fun part of my work for me, almost like a meditation practice. Once I've found them, I put them together like a puzzle and the results are always surprising to me.

You often depict women with their faces and bodies partially covered or almost censored – what do they represent in your work?

I like to represent the female figure as an ethereal and mystic being, like a fairy or an angel, and covering some parts of their bodies with graphic elements reminiscent of flowers, trees, leaves and animals gives this impression aesthetically.

Have there been any surprising or memorable responses to your work?

I'm always very happy when people - especially women - come up to me and tell me that they've been inspired by my work. The responses are mostly positive, but there are also people who come to tell me that they don't understand the aesthetics of my work and I get it because sometimes I don't even understand it myself. What I like about collage is that strangeness that comes with the visual sensation of seeing a piece that it’s not usual for the human eye. We are used to looking at images and thinking about them in a certain pattern, and collage art changes this perspective.