A Galaxy made by natural elements is what is housed in the Project-Room #9 by Emilia Faro in the DavidePaludetto ArteContemporanea Gallery in Turin. The reason why I visited and wrote about this project is definitely the way in which the artist refers herself to the world through her installations, setting out “natural” items in the gallery space in a completely surreal way. Exhibiting her person through these elements is like a relief for her, a care that leads to ecstasy and folly. The artist often covers the concept of freedom, not as a social and political thought but as her position, where the free will is originated and well-defined streets are determined.

Sicilian artist, Emilia Faro, brings into her works her homeland, and just in this project-room, one of the elements that comes out is the volcanic sand directly offered by “Mrs Etna”; just “Idda” (“her” in Sicilian dialect) is the symbol of fertility and revival.

The subjects represented by Emilia are vegetable and abstract elements: leaves, branches and flowers are covered with volcanic sand and come out from walls and pillars; soft shapes like those belonging to nature, contrast physically and conceptually with the scratchy sand, the white structure of the room and the net that holds the pillars.

Her works are suspended and rotate as they would in a galaxy where systems, stars, and dusts move. In the centre of the room and on a wall, some elements stand out against any gravity and even the sculptures on the pillars or the framed pictures seem to be suspended: everything that is apparently stable actually is not at all. However, despite all that, this “system” appears safe and uncontaminated.

In this room there is no works that is unlinked to the other, even though the artist gave them different names, the whole work is to be experienced in its totality and sum; every element interweaves the other not only visually but also inside its history.

Colours like black and pink act as contrast; the artist recalls strength through the colour black with which she reacts to her interior fears, while pink indicates the bond with femininity and her own skin. The two colours, so different and similar might be for the artist a “completion” request towards somebody or something or simply the integrity towards herself.

All these elements offer to the observer who is immersed in the exhibition, a sense of interior wellness that leads him or her to experience his/her origins, a true return to primordial elements.

Like the artist writes: “the work of art is born from a creative intuition, that arises, in turn, from an feeling of unease that we can get back from our past or present time and it’s right through art that we can exorcize our troubles. [..]. Today conceptual art is very common and to interpret it is a challenge.”

The whole artist’s path is certainly eclectic, both technically and conceptually. Emilia shows her own life and autobiographic being through her art; themes like liberation and search for emancipation of her identity have always been her travel mates.

She constantly describes concepts like pleasure and pain, Eros and Thanatos with naturalness and dignity; without fears, the artist face sorrows, not only her own ones but also those that afflict humanity in its wholeness. The “creatures” in all her works are protagonists of important events and changes; they conquer life through courage and determination becoming then elements not only natural, but mystical and shamanistic.

The spontaneity of her work is disarming; the lightness with which she transforms materials is recognizable.

Info:

Project-Room#9 – Emilia Faro
DavidePaludetto Arte Contemporanea
Via degli Artisti 10, 10124 – Turin
From June 21 to July 21, 2018
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday 16 – 20
www.davidepaludetto.com