Mementos is a show which testimonies the long lasting collaboration between myself and photographer Matilda Trabalza. Paintings from the series “POINTS – Between Land and Sky” I created during the summer of 2022 and photographs Trabalza took in Naples around the same period have been carefully curated by myself to be exhibited in Il Conte Italian Style fashion boutique.
Braciere 1. 2022. Acrylic on board. 
Braciere 2. 2022. Acrylic on board. 
Installation shot of window installation at Il Conte. 
Installation shot of window installation at Il Conte.
Mementos aimed to put painting and photography in conversation by exploring the way our memory and imagination relate to one another. We constantly take mental pictures of an experience, a person or a place which stays significant to us. With the passing of time these photographs depicting our memories of said situations will be inevitably marked by our imagination which, just like a paintbrush, changes the original picture we had of that specific memory. Through this inevitable process, the “memento” is generated. “Memento” here is intended as an immaterial souvenir which resides in our brains, which does not show an intact version of a memory we have, or a completely made-up scenario which we imagine. It is instead the inevitable exposure a true memory undergoes to our imagination. With the passing of time, this exposure leaves behind a feeling, sensation or commotion which is defined as the “memento”.
Mementos 2022. Album collaboration with 20 photos and 20 paintings on paper. 
Mementos 2022. Album collaboration with 20 photos and 20 paintings on paper. 
Mementos 2022. Album collaboration with 20 photos and 20 paintings on paper.
In this exhibition, Matilda Trabalza and I propose our mementos. In the selected photographs Trabalza took in Naples, we can see an external visitor capturing the essence of such a complex and fascinating city. Capturing particular moments of the everyday life in black and white, allowed Trabalza to create compositions which hold a clear nostalgia which the viewer can relate to. The paintings belonging to “POINTS – Between Land and Sky” series are also shown in the exhibition. These promote a more intimate approach to the “memento”. The dynamic and strong lines show specific corners of my childhood home in Umbria. This place evokes a sense of spirituality and a connection with a specific loved one. These artworks show a predominance of black and white colours and create an undefined visualisation of what remembering and imagining means. The relationship between our memory and our imagination is mirrored by the way painting and photography are approached by myself and Matilda Trabalza.
Installation shot of Mementos. 
Installation shot of Mementos. 
Installation shot of Mementos. 
Installation shot of window installation at Il Conte.