Contessa contesa

Two faces in profile stand against each other, one turquoise, one yellow. In the space between them emerges the full figure of a woman, in red. It is the mechanism of ambiguous figures: the same line draws two things, and the eye moves from one to the other without being able to settle.

The title plays with words as the work plays with forms: the “contessa” (countess) is “contesa” (contested) between two forces, yet she will be the one to choose whether to go right, left, or carry on alone along her own path. The composition can also be read as a womb, the cradle of life, which shifts the irony towards something deeper.

The silicone, laid in relief and worked in swirls, gives the surface a continuous, almost tactile movement.

Critical reading by Clara Yasmine Serra.