Emanuela Viviana Banfi was born in Milan in 1973. Until the age of 13 she lived in different small villages in the districts of Varese. She then moved with her family to live in the canton of Valais, in Switzerland, where she obtained in 1992, the Federal Maturity in modern languages.
Banfi returned to Italy to study at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. In 1995 she obtained a three months Erasmus grant to study painting, photography and etching at the Kingston University (UK). She received the Bachelor in Painting in 1996, which included her thesis written on Food in Art.
A year later, she enrolled at Milan University, in the Philosophy Department, but she abandoned the course some months later.
In 1998 Banfi studied in Lausanne University, in the faculty of Literature, for two years.
In 2005, after one year training course at the Fine Arts University in Geneva (called at that time ESBA, now HEAD), she obtained a Post-Grad in 'Body-Installation-Space'.
From 2014 to 2016 she attended the University of Teacher's Education (HEP) in Lausanne and obtained a Master Degree in Teaching in Secondary Education level. Her thesis researched the theme of self-portraits.
Since 2000, Banfi has been working in several private and public schools as an assistant teacher, a teacher, and a supply teacher in different disciplines such as, Fine Arts, Drawing, History of Art, History of Images, Italian, and French.
Besides the teaching activity, she has been working, since 2010, as an art work designer for a private firm.
Her great passion, since her childhood, are horses.
She lives and works in the Cantons of Valais and Vaud.