COMMISSION #6 – SARA BASTA
Sara Basta's Iuno is an organic form with evanescent contours, a fortuitous image that miraculously
appeared on an embroidered handkerchief.
Placed on an embroidered handkerchief, akin to a shroud, it appears to be produced by the adherence of a body to a fabric that absorbs its essences and returns its semblance and sacredness.
The extreme simplification of the image, reduced to a sequence of curvilinear strokes, allows for interpretation both in a figurative and aniconic key, contextualizing it both in the realm of representation and in the more material realm of life testimony.
The gray color traces a sort of inverted orography, reminiscent of the shape of an animal breast, like that of a she-wolf, or a propitiatory pagan iconography like that of Artemis of Ephesus, adorned with breasts.
Almost confirming the suggestion, the four curved lines traced with the brush extend into perpendicular, slightly lighter drips, resembling the residue of a milky substance akin to maternal nourishment.
The use of liquid paint, mixed with soil collected by the artist near a watercourse, further emphasizes the connection with the natural element and, more specifically, with the aquatic one.
In Sara Basta's recent artistic research, indeed, water is not only a material incorporated into the artwork but also a reference model for a practice of care based on mutual participation and interconnection among humans and different species.
Inspired by the hydrofeminist thought of Astrida Neimanis, Sara Basta's Juno thus presents itself as a sort of manifesto that formulates and hopes for shared ideas, spaces, and knowledge.
Mercoledì 31 Maggio 2023
Performative reading group on the idea of fertility and water, led by Sara Basta as part of the Festival des Cabanes at Villa Medici
www.villamedici.it
Sara Basta, Iuno Tellus, 2023, earth and tempera on fabric, 40 x 40 cm
Text by Giulia Gaibisso
Sara Basta lives and works in Rome.
Her works stem from collective research and the creation of temporary small communities among people who share narratives and engage in dialogue through common action. She is a lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where she teaches in the two-year course on art therapy and has conducted several workshops. Among her collective projects: "Moto perpetuo combinatorio," curated by Latitudo Art Project, produced for the European project Magic Carpets, Rome (2020). "Le maschere dei vivi per i morti," curated by the Tenuta dello Scompiglio association (2019). With the "Abito lo Spazio" project, an itinerant project realized between 2016 and 2019, she participated in "School in Tandem," curated by the educational department of Manifesta12, Palermo. With Sabatina Leccia, she participated in the "Arts en Espace Public" festival, curated by Art – Exprime, developing a project with the inhabitants of a condominium in Paris (2016). Among her recent exhibitions: "Il Giardino Libernautico," curated by Elena Bellantoni in collaboration with Benedetta Monti and Niccolò Giacomazzi, at the Baruchello Foundation in Rome; "La Prima Madre," curated by Cecilia Canziani and Costanza Meli, at the Fondazione Pastificio Cerere in Rome (2022). "Magic Carpets Landed," curated by Benedetta Carpi De Resmini, at the Picture Gallery in Kaunas, Lithuania; "Babies are Knocking," curated by Veronica He, Pia Lauro, and Chiara Vigliotti, at Studio Stefania Miscetti in Rome; "Seminaria Sogniterra," Environmental Art Festival, curated by Marianna Fazzi and Isabella Indolfi, in Maranola (FR) (2021).
Text by Giulia Gaibisso