VOYEUR'S PASSION

The series references various art-historical sources, photography, as well as advertisements. The original images are mixed with words and acronyms, whose meaning is often polysemous in modern and ancient European languages: for instance, the word cum has different meanings in English and Latin; the word un can mean “United Nations”, or the indeterminate article a in Italian and French, etc. The goal has been to create a synesthetic union between word and image, letter and pictorial sign. Three-dimensional elements, glued or sewn, contribute to provide the sensation of a tactile plasticity, stemming from the flatness of the canvas. Thus, different light conditions modify the perception of the painted surface, by interacting with the golden acrylic paint; LED lights add more light, whereas nails and gold leaf reflect sunbeams; pearl beads get mixed with the painted canvas, or contrast against the surface, with strong shadows.
The voyeur, i.e. the spectator, is then invited to use her/his own capacity to associate all diverse visual references altogether, which echo each other, like in a house of mirrors.

Voyeur’s Passion has been exhibited at Interface HUB/ART in Milan, within the duo exhibition The Contended Witness: Elio Ticca & Mary Della Giovanna (2017-18).