Moto Lady

Painting Description: "Moto Lady" by Valeria Notarnicola

Medium: Acrylic and lacquer on canvas
Dimensions: 60 × 40 cm
Date: January 2025
Style: Contemporary

"Moto Lady" is a portrait that rides the tension between power and performance, myth and modern identity. She’s not just a figure—she’s a symbol. Sunglasses shield her gaze, reflecting a world she’s mastered but refuses to be defined by. Her body is adorned with symbols—tattoos of rebellion, strength, and self-expression—layered like a narrative written directly onto skin.

This work is painted in a deliberately restricted palette with ochres, sepias, and greys used to invoke a feeling of gritty nostalgia, a sun-faded memory of rock ‘n’ roll and machine oil. The use of lacquer gives her a gloss, a shield, as if she’s been laminated against the world. And the motorcycle - less a machine, more an extension of her - is rendered like armor.

She is both muse and myth, built from cultural fragments of femininity, autonomy, and danger. I wanted to capture a mood that speaks to anyone who’s ever chosen the open road over a finish line, anyone who’s had to create their own legend because none existed that fit.

This piece is part of a broader exploration into female archetypes in pop and biker culture, how we wear our resistance, how we construct our image, and how we survive the ride.