Carlotta Schiavio, also known as YaTii Talisman, moves fluidly across disciplines, building a practice rooted in curiosity, intuition, and layered meaning. Working within contemporary multimedia art, she explores identity, transformation, and the meeting point between nature and technology. Her approach is not confined to a single medium. Painting, jewelry design, fashion, installation, and visual storytelling all sit comfortably within her practice, each informing the other. What connects these paths is a desire to create immersive environments—spaces where symbolism, material, and emotion intersect.
Her projects have appeared in galleries and cultural settings across Europe, Africa, and the United States, reflecting a practice shaped by travel and cross-cultural exchange. Alongside her studio work, Schiavio founded two online print-on-demand platforms under the Bugibatuki name, extending her visual language into wearable and functional forms. These outlets reflect her interest in accessibility and circulation—allowing imagery to live beyond the gallery wall and enter daily life. Whether working with physical materials or digital systems, Schiavio continues to build a personal visual world that is both grounded and speculative, intimate and expansive.
Bugibatuki Xiomara (2025)
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 16 x 20 inches
Bugibatuki Xiomara feels less like a single image and more like a presence. Created in acrylic on watercolor paper, the piece carries a sense of arrival—quiet but deliberate. According to its narrative, Xiomara appears in the green mountains of Chiapas, Mexico, emerging as a gentle force of care. She comes to heal the land, cleanse the rivers, and soften the inner landscapes of those who encounter her. The story frames Xiomara not as a hero in the traditional sense, but as a restorative being whose strength lies in compassion and steadiness.
The choice of Chiapas is important. Known for its dense forests, rivers, and Indigenous histories, the region already holds layers of meaning tied to land, resistance, and continuity. Schiavio does not depict this setting literally. Instead, she translates its spirit through color, movement, and texture. Greens dominate the composition, but they are not uniform. They shift between deep, almost shadowed tones and lighter, breathing spaces that suggest growth and renewal. The watercolor paper absorbs the acrylic unevenly, allowing the surface to remain active and alive, echoing the unpredictability of natural systems.
Xiomara herself sits at the center of this visual field, yet she does not overpower it. Her presence feels integrated rather than imposed. She appears as part of the environment, not separate from it. This merging reflects a recurring idea in Schiavio’s practice: the dissolution of rigid boundaries between human, spirit, and landscape. Identity here is fluid. Xiomara is named by the locals not because she demands recognition, but because her actions are felt. The name—meaning strength and courage—emerges organically from experience rather than declaration.
The Bugibatuki universe, which threads through much of Schiavio’s art, often blends myth, ecology, and speculative storytelling. In Bugibatuki Xiomara, this universe becomes quieter and more focused. There is no sense of urgency or spectacle. Instead, the painting unfolds slowly. Viewers are invited to linger with small details—the layering of pigment, the subtle gestures in form, the way the figure seems to both appear and dissolve. This pacing mirrors the work’s themes of healing and purification, processes that require time and patience.
Material choice plays a subtle but important role. Acrylic paint brings vibrancy and immediacy, while watercolor paper introduces fragility. The surface can buckle, stain, or resist, and Schiavio allows these qualities to remain visible. This decision reinforces the idea that healing is not about erasing marks but working with what already exists. The paper’s texture becomes part of the narrative, holding traces of movement and correction, much like land holds memory.
There is also a quiet dialogue between the spiritual and the ecological. Xiomara’s mission to purify rivers and calm hearts suggests that environmental damage and emotional unrest are deeply connected. Schiavio does not moralize this connection. She presents it as a shared condition—one that calls for care rather than control. Technology, often present elsewhere in her practice, recedes here, making space for a more elemental conversation. Yet its absence feels intentional, as if reminding us what is at stake when balance is lost.
Ultimately, Bugibatuki Xiomara operates as both image and offering. It does not explain itself fully, nor does it demand a single interpretation. Its strength lies in suggestion and atmosphere. Through this piece, Schiavio extends an invitation to reflect on resilience, on the quiet forms courage can take, and on the possibility of repair—within landscapes, communities, and the self.
For more about Carlotta Schiavio and her ongoing projects, visit www.yatii.com or follow her on Instagram at @yatii_talisman.
