Size: 170 x 124 cm
materials: iron, olive wood, acrylic, spotlight.
date: 2022
Balla-Rò
The work features the artist’s wife, Rosanna (Rò), emerging from the encounter of olive wood, iron, light, shadow and paint.
The embossed skirt consists of an olive wood trunk worked and then painted with poppy red acrylic. Supported by an iron scaffold, the skirt appears to be pleated and in motion, barely escaping the woman’s hand and captured in an instant of abandon. The rest of the woman’s body, however, is obtained from iron.
The figure as a whole expresses an intriguing duality. The tilted head, the arms in a dancer’s position, and the suggestion of a moment caught in flagrante give an atmosphere of uncertainty and embarrassment.
The acme of distortion is reached through the light of a spotlight peeking out from the frame. A direct shadow stands out on the canvas and merges with the iron silhouette, generating a double representation of the figure: one in metal and one in shadow.
The color choice of the background amplifies the work’s mystery, with shades of green ranging from pea to emerald to deep forest green. The subdivision of the background into sections with mixtures of orange and gray, concrete-colored squares, creeping misshapen curves, and series of crooked squares creates a captivating and enveloping atmosphere.
Wife, mother, child, stranger, or dancer? The painting invites continuous questioning, in an interplay of light projections and interpretations.
To my wife, who has always wanted to dance.
To you, who have always wanted to dance barefoot;
to your childhood dreams of pirouettes on theater stages,
to all the secret choreography, guarded in your room;
to dances under the starry sky, in arenas, discos, village festivals.
To you, who have always dreamed of being a dancer,
I dedicate this painting,
this wooden tutu,
this light,
this colorful stage.