the sincerity of poetic meditation.
By Paola Simona Tesio
Exibart (Nov. 24, 2008)
Photography becomes inner reflection. A dream spectacle that evokes deep emotions. Works that untether themselves from pure representation. Photography that is not mere reproduction but an investigation of the unconscious…
In her latest project, Beatrice Pediconi (Rome, 1972) frees herself from pure representation. This is another step in an evolution that began in the preceding series Subtle Bodies. The Roman photographer, through the help of water and ink, embarks on a search for fascinating and suggestive forms, capable of giving delight through the singularity of fluid and evanescent movement. In this Untitled series, the investigation continues on the same general theme, further defining itself. Untitled is a cycle of works able to catch the observer completely unprepared, throwing them into a dreamy and enveloping dimension dominated by inner silence. The spaces generated in these works seem to restore to view the immensity of the cosmos and the horizon determined by the unknown. It is a universe that cannot help but evoke in the collective imagination the forms of clouds and constellations, in a radiant sea of lights and glimmers.
In the meantime these Untitleds suggest parallels with noted works. In the fluidity of the ink, in its luminescence, one seems to recognize the incisive traces of great artists of the past. In a sinuous stain it is possible to perceive a consonance with Hokusai’s The Great Wave. But this similarity is only mere appearance, since as viewers we are deceived by the imposition of well-known influences.
In Pediconi’s work, in her art, there is in fact much more: it represents the surpassing of photography. The artist expresses herself in a borderline universe between painting, performance, and image. The use of water, ink, and tempera merges harmoniously with the search for lights and shadows captured by the lens. The fleeting instant is snatched, held, and rendered ethereal, more than immortal. Time remains absolute prisoner of the work. The essence comes from the seized moment that generates an indistinct flow of emotions.
In this way the viewer enters into intimate contact with their own unconscious, perceiving the finite nature of humanity and their infinitesimal being. Pediconi’s work does not however imply a fixed meaning, but leaves room for a swirl of multiple interpretations that generate themselves like a vortex, a whirlpool born from the harmonious movement of forms, able to go beyond objectivity.
The ink stains untangle and free themselves from a dark ground, where the striations of white become perpetual movement and the contrasts take on tactile three-dimensionality.