I think Art is always a mirror of our experiences and our feelings about the times we are living... Today we are in conversation with Silvia Giordani, one of the talented collaborating with Art - Preview.
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Dear Silvia, firstly, thanks for taking the time to discuss your extraordinary work with us, and thanks to Matteo Sormani, owner of Art - Preview, for introducing us. We met at Palazzo Cordellina in Vicenza, where you are displaying one of your latest shows "Dov'è lontano / Where is far away", your artistic reflection on the landscape. The selection of canvas provokes an infinite series of questions making one's mind wonder about the possibility of different spaces. Could you tell us a bit more about your artistic research and about how you interpret the infinite possibilities of "getting away"?
“Get away” means many things to me, and it’s a recurrent question in my artistic practice, so thanks for the question. To me, it’s all about the way you experience reality and the space dimension. There are several, infinite dimensions of Space you can investigate. In my practice, I use to mix micro and macro cosmos: for example, you can find other planets' suggestions in microcosms as cells, microscope images, geological sections, and so on. My research starts from the interest in all these possible “layers” of the landscape. You can feel very far away just going around the city you’ve always lived, but you can get away laying in your room as well. In this case, the digital dimension is a kind of gate to other realities. So, from these considerations came the title of the exhibition “Dov’è lontano / Where is far away”.
In "Dov'è lontano / Where is far away" the boundaries disappear and the elements populating the paintings appear as mysterious objects, almost as if they were finds of distant dimensions. The result is a scenario with dystopian features and suspended atmospheres, which in turn lends itself to being investigated. According to your idea, in an era in which everything seems so close and accessible, should Art be a shelter to escape the ordinary or should it be a mirror of what we are experiencing? Or should it be a mix of both?
I think Art is always a mirror of our experiences and our feelings about the times we are living but in a more expanded way. I’ve never seen Contemporary Art as a way to escape from reality, but to go deeply into it. I’m fascinated by the landscape idea, not to dream or imagine myself in a far place, but to move the inner landscapes belonging to everyone. The atmospheres you can create through painting could be really harsh and inhospitable sometimes. So, there’s always a kind of attraction to the represented place, but not like a postcard, that shows a place you’d like to stay in. It’s more like the attraction to the unknown and the mystery that a landscape could generate.
You are a talented young artist, has your artistic practice always been in a way connected to the digital era you were born in and the infinite possibilities coming from it, or was it the consequence of an artistic maturation? And what about you, do you have a "far away" shelter you take inspiration from for your work, or is your work more connected to what surrounds you on a daily basis?
I’m interested in the digital world as another dimension to investigate. Actually, the new media can simulate the experience in an extremely realistic way. The misunderstanding of what is real and what is not is something really close to the dream ideal and which plays with our unconsciousness. Actually, my practice is related to this ambiguity, but has not an evidence reference to the digital. I would like in my future projects to push more on this connection. For my paintings, I take inspiration from several sources, starting from my daily basis, arriving to the Neolithic era. I’m always looking for “stratifications of time” on my references, but these could come from a geological section as well from the eroded surface of a wall.
On April 16th, Poison Green at Fondazione Bevilacqua la Masa (Venice) opened. Again, an interesting project focusing on the landscape and a hint to reflect on the period we are living in. We still have not had the chance to visit it, but would you like to tell us something more about this collective show and about your exhibited work?
“Poison Green” is the exhibition of the 15 artists actually working in Bevilacqua La Masa ateliers. The work created for this occasion is a large canvas titled “Henge”, part of my recent research on petrology, a branch of geology that studies rocks and the conditions under which they form.
As in other works of mine, the boundary between past, present, and future disappears, creating this suspended idea of reality. I feel very lucky to work in Bevilacqua La Masa ateliers because this residence program offered me the possibility also to experiment on large canvases and gave me new artistic challenges. Also part of the works exhibited in the solo show “Dov’è lontano” were realized during an artistic summer residency. I think that experiencing new studio spaces and being in contact with other artists opens new possibilities in your practice that otherwise, you would not have considered.
I hope you’ll have the chance to visit “Poison Green” and you’ll enjoy the exhibition!
Thank you, Silvia, and thank you Art - Preview for having introduced us to such a talented artist!
Cover image: Courtesy of Silvia Giordani
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