Are Livia De Magistris’ 3D creations people, machines, or animals? It’s up to you to decide

To make her fun artworks, Livia De Magistris non-stop hops between analogue and digital methods.

Date
21 February 2024

In Livia De Magistris’ 3D world, you’ll come across a whole host of strange beings. Some have heads, some have horns and some have bodies made up of blocks and wacky contraptions. Livia sees her creations as “a cross between people, machines and animals”, for whom she creates a magical habitat to exist within. Such work is inspired by the strange creatures that pepper medieval art and imagery; her father studied the history of ancient art and her family home has “always been full of grotesque images, especially from illuminated manuscripts”. Outside of her immediate surroundings, Livia also cites the sculptor Marisol Escobar as a key influence, famous for her folk-infused humanoid figures.

To create her creatures Livia hops between a multitude of methods, usually the result of “various transitions between analogue and digital”, often starting with plasticine and pencil drawing, which she then alters digitally with Nomad, Blender, Illustrator or Procreate. Not stopping there, when she’s completed her figures she’ll print them in Risograph and then scan them, all in the pursuit of a film-like effect. Outside of her personal 3D practice, Livia freelances as an illustrator and regularly collaborates with the publisher Stolen Books.

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Livia De Magistris: Il Gallcavallo Animation (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Arpia (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Casalbero (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Medusa (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Cavallo d’Acqua (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Cavallo d’Acqua (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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Livia De Magistris: Frutti Proibiti (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2023)

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Livia De Magistris: Palazzi Pazzi (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2023)

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Livia De Magistris: Bestiario (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2023)

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Livia De Magistris: Troll (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2023)

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Livia De Magistris: Magico Habitat (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2023)

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Livia De Magistris: Il Gallcavallo Animation (Copyright ® Livia De Magistris, 2024)

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About the Author

Olivia Hingley

Olivia (she/her) is associate editor of the website, working across editorial projects and features as well as Nicer Tuesdays events. She joined the It’s Nice That team in 2021. Feel free to get in touch with any stories, ideas or pitches.

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