“My art is not calculated or planned. I do what I have to do...” —Sigismondi

Floria Sigismondi was born in 1965 in Pescara, Italy. Both her parents were opera singers, and they named her after the main character of the Tosca Opera. Costumes and theatrical settings became a part of Floria's childhood, all which flourished her imagination to adulthood. As a result, these dramaturgic influences have become the trademark style of her creations today.

At the age of two, she emigrated with her family to Canada, settling in the industrial city of Hamilton in Ontario. In 1987, she moved once again, this time to Toronto to pursue her studies in painting and illustration at the Ontario College of Art (now known as the Ontario College of Art and Design). Having graduated with a photography major, she began what quickly became a successful career as a fashion photographer and within a year had expanded into directing music videos.

Floria is a multi-disciplinary artist who encompasses fields such as film, video, photography and sculpture. She incorporates early film and painterly aesthetics. She creates hyper-surrealism based on the figure, using images derived from hallucinatory dream-states. Her video stills mix seamlessly with her photography series, and her photographic images translate naturally into sculptural and mixed-media forms. Poetic and often macabre, Floria’s images exist in a theater environment that is both narrative and starkly visual, with influences ranging from Hans Belmer, Francis Bacon and David Lynch to Greek Mythology. She additionally explores the effects of science on our contemporary experience of the body. “I’m interested by how the idea of beauty would change if you had anything at your disposal, and it is possible. I’m also interested in deconstructing the body. And after you’ve taken it apart, the next step is to create a new one,” comments Floria. In her artwork, she brings life to new and imaginary creatures which are meant to prompt the viewers imagination. They are based on her analytical views of the way bio-technology is advancing, and how it may affect and alter the human form. Even though it is still undefined what the future will hold, the thought of this is certainly frightening, complex, mysterious and compelling. And all of it triggers Floria to create beauty in a different way by deconstructing and constructing.

Her photographs have been included in group exhibitions with Cindy Sherman, Rebecca Horn, Vanessa Beecroft, Tony Oursler, Donald Lipski, Roberto Clemente, and Joel-Peter Witkin. And her most recent projects include photography and sculpture installation exhibitions in New York and Toronto, book publications in New York, Germany, and Italy; and the preparation of her first film as a director.

Other than photography, Floria has been recognized as an A-list music video director having worked with highly acclaimed musicians such as David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Tricky, Leonard Cohen, Bjork, and Amon Tobin.