BIO
(b. 1981) is an Italian visual artist born in Hong Kong, spending her early five (5) years there before moving to Singapore. At the age of ten, her family relocated to Umbria, Italy, experiencing a different way of life. After spending nearly two decades there, she moved to The Netherlands. In 2017, she returned to Singapore, where she currently resides and continues to create art. Her multicultural upbringing is reflected throughout her work.
Anatomy and Soul of a special piece
(How close can one get to the soul of another?)
“Anatomy”: elements from floodlight, recycled polyester blanket, 130 cm x 170 cm
“Soul”: paper, gel medium on cotton canvas, 100 cm x 100 cm, 2023
Out of 16,000 floodlights, this one spoke to Elena immediately because it was first used in 2015, which is when she returned to Singapore, after 25 years.
She looked at it as something with a soul that could not be seen by others. She believed that all its components needed to be displayed, just like during an anatomy lesson.
By dismantling and photographing all the parts, she looked closely and understood how, without any of them, the floodlight would not work.
The “Anatomy” is laid on a blanket on the floor. The physicality of it puts a distance between the viewer and the “soul” (a canvas collage of black and white photos, capturing each component from different perspectives, printed on paper, rearranged, layered, and glued).
No matter how hard you try, you will never fully understand that soul.
You can get close to it, but it might never be close enough, as there will always be aspects of it that will be incomprehensible.
