The Muse Diaries: #5 Chiara Perano
For our latest Muse Diaries, we speak to Chiara Perano, an English-Italian artist whose work moves between painting, murals, ceramics and lettering, creating expressive worlds filled with colour, texture and emotion. Growing up between England and southern Italy, her work carries a distinctive sense of romance and nostalgia, shaped by landscape, memory and the natural world.
Now based by the sea in East Sussex, Chiara’s practice blends botanical forms, gestural mark making and atmospheric palettes into pieces that feel both intimate and immersive. Whether working on canvas, ceramics or large-scale murals, her work captures a softness and depth that feels naturally aligned with the world of Queens of Archive.
How did you first discover Queens of Archive, and what drew you to the brand?
I love the vintage silhouettes and especially the mini dresses, and the celestial and romantic aesthetic is an easy style for me to love. My friend Rachel Bakewell introduced me to Queens of Archive through her beautiful collaboration; I lived in my hat all winter.
How do you think growing up between England and southern Italy shaped your creative eye?
I’ve always been very observant and I think without realised it I really absorbed a lot from the environments around me growing up. Italy felt very slow, sunny, earthy and very connected to nature. The colours I use have definitely come from my heritage as I use them in my home too. I was probably witchy from a young age, drawn to nature and beauty, symbolism from the natural world.
At Queens of Archive, we’re inspired by women who create immersive creative worlds, and your work feels so transportive in that way. What do you hope people feel when they step into your world?
My paintings are created from a place of connection to nature, I hope people feel that, I use landscape to create an emotion. I want it to feel like a dreamlike place but grounding, where they feel deeply moved to care for the planet but also just be still and present, calmed maybe, meaningful.
What usually comes first when you begin a painting, colour, emotion or composition?
Because of my background and training in illustration, I usually work from sketches - loads of sketched ideas, and some of those sketches make it into the beginnings of a painting. I work in thin washes of colour, building layers which I do intuitively, and at some point the emotion takes over and the painting becomes what it needs to. I don’t always know where it will go, I’m searching for balance and mood as I go whilst having that looser idea of composition.
Queens of Archive is built on a female perspective, from design through to storytelling. When you’re choosing what to wear, how important is it for you to feel connected to the voice and values behind a brand?
Incredibly important - for me what you wear is all about the story of how it was made - from design concept to creation and to the buyer’s experience. I have naturally been drawn to primarily female designers who are bold and colourful and who know how to create pieces that accentuate a woman's figure.
Celestial imagery appears so often throughout your work, and it’s a theme we continually return to within Queens of Archive too. What is it about the moon, stars and night sky that keeps pulling you back creatively?
Firstly, I love that about your brand! Symbolic imagery feels very grounding to me, and I personally feel really connected to the moon cycles and astrology, I always check in what’s going on in the skies. The celestial bodies give a sense of awe, and perspective, and I love that it's ancient and shared. A huge glowing moonrise or a sunset so dusky the colours melt into each others and everything feels gold then the first stars appear- and we are so lucky to have these dreamy scenes for our pleasure. Those moment feel magical and fleeting and I want to capture that in some way.
Your work has a way of making everyday life feel incredibly romantic and cinematic. What kinds of places, moments or details are inspiring you most lately?
As I write this, I’m sat by a huge lake near where I live. It’s early summer, flowers are swaying around scenting the air and there’s a warm breeze. I like paying attention to all of the details where I can. At the moment I’m very inspired by the garden at the height of growing season, it's at the exciting stage where it changes every day. Also vintage Italian packaging, old frescos, shells, saints, seawater, songs on repeat. Simplifying life. I think a lot of the romance comes from noticing the small things that trigger emotion and memory.
Your work feels simultaneously soft and powerful. Is that contrast something you consciously explore?
I take that as a compliment thank you, my work does carry a softness, I guess from the colours, poetry, dreamlike elements, but there is always strength under that aswell. I like that space where they coexist in gentleness and power - and both make their way into my work. That probably does reflect where I am in life as a mother to young children.
Queens of Archive collections are often inspired by a wider world of music, travel and storytelling, not just clothing itself. How connected do those influences feel within your own practice?
Very connected. Travelling has shaped a lot of my visual world, I’ve just returned from a trip from Paris and absorbed so much from the signage to the architecture, colours and culture. Music is hugely important to me to, it changes that atmosphere of the studio and can definitely influence how I work, the speed and emotion. I’ve always loved live music and have been going to gigs for decades. Sometimes the lyrics find their way in emotionally, or titles of the painting if I’ve been listening to something on repeat, and the feeling of seeing your favourite artists perform live is the best high.
How do you think living by the sea, and embracing a slower pace of life, has changed the way you create?
Enormously, and it’s only when I step back into city life that the stark difference becomes visible to me, and now that we’ve been here for 5 years I’ve finally settled into my rhythm. I feel lucky to be able to dip into London whenever I need, but being by the sea has changed me as a person I think. After dropping my children at school I often head to the sea and just breath in the fresh salty air I love doing this on super windy days too, it feels clearing and alive. It’s become my place to think and slow down if I am in a creative slump or feeling overwhelmed I sit there until my head feels reset. It’s become part of my creative ritual and filters into my work.
Your work spans painting, murals, ceramics and lettering. How does moving between mediums keep creativity feeling fresh for you?
The way I can go between the different projects and mediums feels very natural to me, I enjoy flowing and changing up my daily practise as I can’t sit still for too long. Mural commissions are especially exciting because it allows my work to exist physically within a space and often involves collaboration which I love.
What does living beautifully mean to you at this stage of life?
To me it means living life authentically and creating a life that feels genuinely your own rather than one shaped by expectation. I think beauty exists in honesty and freedom and paying attention. I’ve just started a year long course in herbal medicine because it’s an itch that needed scratching and I dont know where it will lead but it’s already informing the way I think and consume, and even visually the plants are endless inspiration.
Finally, If you were wandering through Edith’s Garden at golden hour, what would you be wearing?
I’d be wearing the Atlanta dress with one of the beautiful ribbon hats, probably barefoot and an aperitivo in hand.
