The zodiac signs and mystical stars painted on the model's body. With her work "From Chaos to Cosmos," Antonella Malvasio won the 2026 French Bodypainting Award in Paris in the Classical Painting (Brush/Sponge) category, ahead of artists from France, Belgium, and South Korea.
A Sardinian-Piedmontese team, given that Antonella Malvasio was born in Ivrea but has lived in Sassari for over 20 years, while Daniela Murgia, her assistant and key figure in the competition, is from Cagliari. Model Erica Bertolina is from Valtellina.
The work required months of study and dozens of hours of practical tests, made possible thanks to the generosity of several Sassari models who volunteered to pose for the preparatory tests. The strict international regulations set a six-hour time limit for completing the work on the model's body.
The International Jury awarded the gold medal by evaluating the work according to three parameters: the excellence of the painting technique, the harmony of the visual composition, and the coherence and interpretation of the assigned theme.
Antonella Malvasio is renowned in Sardinia not only for her events, but also for belly painting, the delicate art of painting pregnant mothers' bellies. Her list of achievements includes victory at the 2023 Italian Amateur Championship and two 4th-place finishes at the Face Painting World Championships (2024 and 2025). Her accolades have now been expanded with a gold medal at the French Bodypainting Award.