Hostages and Friends

In this series of paintings on wood made between 2019 to 2021, Fugazza explores the relationship be­tween humans and the natural environment. The works are comprised of wax, pigments, powdered metals and found objects on wood. Materials are being used for both their aesthetical and symbolic value. Fugazza focuses her attention on the behaviour of other species and the observation of natural systems, in a perspective defined as “deep ecology” by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess. 

The works offer a departure from technological and anthropocentric apti­tudes, depicting a world of images and meanings reverberating with primal intuitions and botanical observations.

The paintings are characterized by their primitive, raw use of marks and gestures, with the artist using the repletion of carving, modelling and engraving to create artistic rituals trough practice. They display an ambivalence for the illusion of the painted space, rejecting materials and colours relating to reality, instead seeking to engage the senses in a more abstract, yet more direct, more intuitive manner. 

Fugazza uses her research into psychotropic plants and rituals to artistically bridge the divide between our daily life and the experience of altered states of consciousness, exposing the layered nature of these worlds. Their imaginary is populated with hybrid characters, animals, plants and men, with an aura of mystery and ambiguity.  These paintings have no shadows, they are linked to contemporary life, but inspired by archetypes of the past while possibly presenting themselves as prop­ositions for the future. 

Text by Gabriel Ress