"AMY"

AMY WINEHOUSE WAS A VOICE CAPABLE OF TRANSFORMING HER OWN FRAGILITY INTO ART. FOR HER, SINGING DID NOT SIMPLY MEAN PERFORMING: IT MEANT EXISTING. EVERY SONG WAS THE MOST AUTHENTIC WAY SHE COULD GIVE FORM TO HER EMOTIONS, WITHOUT FILTERS.

IN THIS WORK, HER IMAGE IS DELIBERATELY BROKEN THROUGH A REAL GESTURE. THE FRACTURE SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENTS EVERYTHING IN HER LIFE THAT TRIED TO INTERRUPT THAT NATURAL NEED TO BE: JUDGMENT, EXPECTATIONS, THE WEIGHT OF SUCCESS, CONSTANT PUBLIC EXPOSURE, AND THE CONFLICT BETWEEN WHAT THE WORLD EXPECTED FROM HER AND WHAT SHE SIMPLY WANTED TO EXPRESS.

THE CRACKS ARE THEN REASSEMBLED THROUGH KINTSUGI, THE ANCIENT JAPANESE PRACTICE THAT DOES NOT HIDE FRACTURES, BUT ENHANCES THEM. GOLD BECOMES A SYMBOL OF THE VALUE THAT CAN EMERGE PRECISELY FROM OUR WOUNDS, REMINDING US THAT WHAT BREAKS US CAN ALSO BECOME THE MOST PRECIOUS PART OF OUR STORY.

Medium and features:

mixed media on reconstructed casting plaster with oil, acrylic, gold leaf and artist- developed reinterpretation of oriental artistic techniques.

Dimensions: 50x70 cm.

The broken icon

SUMINAGASHI, THE ANCIENT JAPANESE TECHNIQUE OF WATER MARBLING, RUNS THROUGH THE WORK AS A METAPHOR FOR EMOTIONS. JUST AS INK FLOWS FREELY ACROSS THE SURFACE WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO BE CONTROLLED, WHAT WE FEEL SHOULD ALSO BE ALLOWED TO EMERGE WITHOUT BEING IMPRISONED BY DEFINITIONS OR EXPECTATIONS. AUTHENTICITY CANNOT BE CONTROLLED: IT CAN ONLY BE ALLOWED TO FLOW.

FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THIS SERIES, I HAVE ALSO INTRODUCED CYMATICS, THE DISCIPLINE THAT STUDIES THE BEHAVIOR OF VIBRATIONS. THROUGH A FREQUENCY OF AMY WINEHOUSE’S VOICE, A GEOMETRIC PATTERN WAS GENERATED AND SUBSEQUENTLY INTEGRATED INTO THE WORK. THAT MARK SYMBOLICALLY REPRESENTS THE VIBRATION OF HER VOICE: A VISIBLE TRACE OF SOMETHING THAT NORMALLY REMAINS INVISIBLE. IT IS AN ATTEMPT TO TRANSFORM AN EMOTION INTO MATTER.

THE FRAGMENTS OF COMIC BOOKS, APPARENTLY SIMPLE AND FAMILIAR, CONTAIN SHORT PHRASES DEDICATED TO IDENTITY AND AUTHENTICITY. THEY ARE WORDS THAT MAY SEEM IMMEDIATE, ALMOST CHILDLIKE, YET THEY INVITE DEEP REFLECTION. PERHAPS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS IN OUR LIVES DO NOT REQUIRE COMPLEX ANSWERS, BUT RATHER THE ABILITY TO REDISCOVER THE FREE AND SINCERE GAZE OF A CHILD.

FINALLY, THE MIRROR INSERTED INTO THE WORK COMPLETES THE JOURNEY. IT IS NOT MERELY AN AESTHETIC ELEMENT: IT INVITES THE VIEWER TO RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES WITHIN THE WORK ITSELF. BECAUSE EVERY PORTRAIT I CREATE DOES NOT SPEAK ONLY ABOUT THE PERSON REPRESENTED. IT ALSO SPEAKS ABOUT THE PERSON WHO OBSERVES IT.

PERHAPS THE WORLD WE SEE OUTSIDE IS ONLY THE REFLECTION OF WHAT WE CARRY WITHIN. AND PERHAPS, SOMETIMES, ALL IT TAKES IS TO SIMPLY CHANGE THE POINT FROM WHICH WE CHOOSE TO LOOK.