AURATICA
Auratica (2022) is an installation born from the harmonious composition of a series of suspended sculptural works, both pictorial and sonic in nature. Each piece consists of a hand-painted silk chiffon sail and a tubular bell, each with a unique shape and sound.
The title, derived from the root aura (breath, air), evokes the spatial and spiritual dimensions of the work, with breath symbolizing life and the connection between body and soul.
The bond between the physical and spiritual realms is embodied in the sound, which accompanies the movement of the sails, marking a private and collective ritual - a message of love and prayer expressed through abstract painting and sculpture.
Auratica (2022) is an installation that emerges from the harmonious composition of a series of suspended sculptural works combining painting and sound, installed within the former fountain space of Spazio Volta. Each piece consists of a silk chiffon sail painted by four hands, paired with a tubular bell of varying form and tone.
The chiffon carries a painterly texture, yet its semi-transparency allows the surrounding space to remain visible, and its lightness enhances its responsiveness to movement - whether triggered by a passerby or a breeze - creating a single body of floating sculptures in motion. The gentle draft entering through the grate may animate the installation, depending on the conditions, like a breath.
The title Auratica, stemming from the Latin root aura (from aúra meaning "breath" and aer meaning "air"), encapsulates both the spatial and spiritual aspects of the exhibition. The term “soul” (anima) traces back to the Greek anemos (wind), while the root “-spir” found in Latin spiritus can be linked to the verb spirare: to breathe, to exhale, to inspire. In many cultures, breath is interpreted as the very sign of life or the essence of the soul - a metaphysical thread that connects the Universe or expresses the divine.
The semantic roots of “spiritual” and “soul” are deeply intertwined with themes of air, wind, and breath, central to Greek cosmogony and philosophy. The Greeks had at least five different words - aer, aither, pneuma, phusa, anemos—to describe gaseous substances seen as the origin of the Universe, which continue to animate bodies and entities in multiple ways.
This connection between the body and spiritual dimension is ultimately contained in sound, which celebrates the sails' motion as the beginning of a ritual - both personal and collective - marked by chance, clear, and prolonged chimes.
Each sail, accompanied by a symbolic gesture, becomes an act of intimate and instinctive rituality born from the bond of a romantic partnership. The five pieces are conceived as messages of love and, at the same time, as prayers - expressions of intentionality conveyed through abstract painting and sculpture.
