Named after her Renaissance ancestor; poetess and muse to Michelangelo Buonarroti, Vittoria Colonna carries a profound artistic lineage into her contemporary work.

Raised between Ireland and Italy, she studied painting at Rome’s Accademia di Belle Arti, trained as an opera singer in Tuscany, and continued her performance studies at Dublin’s renowned Gaiety School of Acting.

She later focused her many talents on writing and directing, gaining international acclaim for her feature documentary Identities (on gender identity), with performance works selected for the Italian Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011). Her dramatic memoir Sandboy qualified for an Oscar nomination, while her dark comedy 4 Bhanríon (4 Queens)swept international festivals. Colonna has also directed numerous award-winning music videos, receiving an Irish Music Television Award, the Las Vegas International Award, and the Golden Palm at the Mexico International Film Festival.

Today, Colonna brings the same storytelling spirit into her visual art, which she describes as “my personal diary to the great mystery.” Deeply connected to nature and the feminine spirit, her practice uses textiles, bold colours, and symbolic forms to create immersive works that celebrate humanity and remind us of our unity with the natural world.

She is also the founder of Love Shamanka, a pop-shamanic movement that treats art as ritual: playful, accessible, and healing. Her works invite viewers to reconnect, to awaken both the inner child and the inner sacred, and to experience creativity as a spiritual act.

A multidisciplinary artist, she moves fluidly between painting, textiles, film, performance, and yoga. Now based between Florence, Italy, she continues to weave together art and cinema.

A strong advocate for women in the arts globally, Colonna was honoured as a World Woman Hour Hero (2020) for empowering change through her work in the arts and entertainment. Her practice today remains vibrant, mystical, and deeply human.