High On You, 2024
acrylic, soap, shea butter pva, pigments, hot pink (ink), wax, Magic Bells - Mother of Thousands (Kalanchoe daigremontiana), comfort (lily and riceflower) on linen 210 x 170 cm
"High On You" stems from a series of paintings that delve into the themes of transparency and opacity through desire, perception, and emotion. The work challenges traditional painting techniques, using the staint technique of pouring organic liquids onto unprimed canvas to let colours bleed and merge naturally, which allows gravity and the innate properties of the materials to dictate the flow and interaction. Mixing elements such as agar–agar, plant pigments, wax, pink ink, shea butter, cochineal bugs, fabric softener, PVA, and soap, the surface blends into a dense, organic and animated realm - nebula-like.
The dominant colour pink, accompanied by hues of green and purple, mirrors the varied conditions of human skin, reflecting tones of blush, tenderness, health and venes. Pink also features prominently in the sky during sunrise and sunset, symbolizing transitions between darkness and light or vice versa. Pink, in essence, isn't a spectral colour but rather a result of blending red and blue wavelengths on a molecular level. This year in May I was able to see the northern lights when they appeared over England's usually grey and cloudy skies in spectrums of pink and purple. I wasn’t aware that our naked eyes are not highly adapted to their wavelength. Their colours are more likely perceivable with the help of a photographic device. In some religions, it is believed that those lights are visits from our ancestors who believe they are evil spirits when from a material point of view auroras are manifestations of geomagnetic activity or storms.
"Che vuoi?" / "What do you want?"—Lacan's imagery of the praying mantis, where one partner is consumed by the other—symbolizes the intricate and often perilous nature of desire. This metaphor highlights how desire is frequently intertwined with fear and anxiety, particularly when the desires of the Other remain opaque or menacing. Historically, the merging of elements has been viewed with suspicion, often associated with potion-making, witchcraft, and alchemy. In contrast, divination practices are imbued with hope, emphasizing themes of revelation, transformation, and the pursuit of hidden truths.
Living organisms and their inorganic counterparts depend heavily on intense flows of materials and energy. Our organic bodies are temporary manifestations within these flows: at birth, we capture a portion of this flow within our bodies, and upon death, we release it, as microorganisms transform us into new raw materials. Lynn Margulis and Jane Bennett both highlight that these material entanglements are fundamental to evolutionary processes, underscoring the dynamic and interconnected nature of all matter.
