Light pervades the entire poetics of the artist, a dazzling light that transforms the real colors of things into shadows, enhancing their structures. It is a light that imparts lightness and suspends everything in the void, a light that moves within the work and makes even the most mundane object sublime. In the artwork, nature explodes and expands, driven by the wind; wild grasses, shrubs of the Mediterranean scrub, petals and seeds fly far away like the sensations and impressions of the observer.

Disegnati dalla luce

The debris left by human passage speaks to us. They are poetic narratives. In some works, this debris is grooves of rust or accumulations of wreckage, in others they are objects. This creates small fragments of landscape within other fragments or fossils of human and mechanical origin, micro imaginary places where lifeless debris becomes hypothetical nests (inhospitable and uninhabitable) essential for survival and reconstruction. 'Fossils of a devitalized future' now become 'Nests' and express the need to protect, to hide, to rebuild, to shout and react. They symbolize tragedy, deep wounds, but also hope and resilience.

Nidi

Landscapes arise from our visual perception, and for this reason, they are defined as 'Landscapes of the Mind'. They are not real, have no reference to a place, but are a vision created in the mind.

Paesaggi della Mente

Twisted trees washed by the brine and peeled by the tides, as if from distant lands, battered on the beaches. Nameless trees with exposed roots, trees without direction, strong and tenacious even in petrified death. Unmade beds, blankets soaked with inexplicable dramas; on the pillows, the imprint of the head still remained as if fossilized in the infinity of time. The covers, marked by sleepless nights of suffering, were kicked to the foot of the bed in apparent confusion but, in reality, reconstructed meticulously in folds that recalled the extraordinary Baroque evolutions, of which, not by chance, the land of Milena bears ample testimony.

Incisioni Calcografiche

In the works of the 'Soul of Earth' series, the color of Sicily's red earth predominates. In the alchemy that connects the earth to humanity and humanity to the earth, an indissoluble bond is created with this element, and the soul cannot help but be impregnated with earth. The work is immersed in this living and vibrant element. Generally, for the works in this series, the artist uses cocoa powder instead of traditional pigment, also to accentuate the childlike impression, memories tied to the taste, smell, and color of chocolate, and consequently to maternal warmth, laughter among friends, and all the affections that are the lifeblood of each of us.

Anima di Terra

Artworks that conceal and reveal, in the silence of a stolen moment, the magic of a hidden universe, in the twilight of the soul and Milena has made it poetically visible as if by magic.
Abstract signs and lines dance, in the nebulous air of thought, creating a painting of mystery, where reality and fantasy intertwine.
Between black leaves and gray secrets, keys emerge from the deep darkness, in search of lost locks, doors to unknown worlds.
A grainy and rough texture, which envelops the unknown with grace, creates a fabric of scattered thoughts, where mystery becomes art and dream.

Incantesimi

"In this series of works, the artist develops visual stories through sectional planes, cutting through water, earth, and sky to create worlds or landscapes. Sometimes underground, sometimes aquatic, sometimes aerial. These are lands inhabited by shadows that tell us a story. We are not given to know whether these stories or thoughts are personal or inspired by present or past events. In reality, it doesn't matter; what Milena cares about is to influence the viewer, make them reflect and question their imagination. Milena does not plan the visual narrative but builds it in progress.

Sezioni infinite di terre e di ombre

Water is one of the most essential and fascinating elements of nature. The circle created by a falling drop is a powerful symbol that I explore with deep intensity. Each drop of water that falls and creates a circle represents the beginning of something new, a moment of creation and transformation. Water is the symbol of life, purity, and rebirth. It is fluid, adaptable, and vital, capable of transforming and adapting to any shape. In my works, I use water to symbolize our ability to change, grow, and regenerate ourselves. Every stain that evokes water is an invitation to reflect on our connection with the natural world and how we can find balance and harmony in our lives.

Gocce d'acqua

"The walls of time are an ideal dimension rediscovered by the artist. They follow an obsessive observation of matter abandoned to the wear of time, which affects not only the walls but also the souls of people imprisoned in stains, debris, wrecks, and dust. There is a particular beauty in the dust of things that remain still over time, and a particular allure in the remains of things once lived, a seductive and stimulating melancholy that becomes poetry.

I muri del tempo

"Milena started painting at the age of 4, inspired by the visual impression of wet stones and the shifting shades they took as they dried. This playful and imaginative game never ended, and her inquisitive eye has always seen beyond the surface of things. She is captivated by the tiniest veins and cracks to recreate a sublimated and moving reality. Carved stones from an ancient Sicilian palace become pictorial figures; these, abandoned to the cruelty of time, gain a magical expressiveness and sublime beauty as they deteriorate.

L'anima delle pietre

"Design made entirely by hand and without molds, using eco-sustainable materials to help the environment by employing the circular economy formula. The world of environmental sustainability, made up of research and experimentation, is vast but can grow even more thanks to consumer trust. Milena Nicosia is a creative full of good intentions and innovative ideas in favor of the environment and has created furnishings to inhabit creative spaces using second-life raw materials. Color, play, and joy predominate, and for this reason, particular works have been included in this series.

Arte e Design Eco-Sostenibile

Visions are also sensations transposed onto the paintings, the memory of swaying in the sultry air under the trees, the picnics, and the walks among the fruit trees. All of this has now disappeared. Thus, Milena clings with all the strength of her thoughts to both memory and desire. Those now nonexistent trees are now leaves that float in her mind in fragrant, fruity, and sweet atmospheres with the sweetness of love for every blade of grass that rebels against man and challenges him by growing tall in this fertile land. In the very latest works, nature recreates itself, and 'the thread' between abstraction and figuration becomes increasingly thin.

Dedalo di linee, sogni e figure

Sicily, the motherland of the artist. A land where even nature sinks into myth, and myth coexists with history and memory, as in the Chaos of origins. With dual polarity and contrasts: light and darkness, comic and tragic, song and disillusionment, visionary poetics and cold unpoetic rationality. Of ancestral myths, of dark memories that plunge into the night of times, and of places of luminous Greekness. Sicilian embroidery is the story of Sicilian women; it was almost an educational obligation, a rite of passage into the status of 'women.' In the works of this series, textile art intertwines with the symbolism of apotropaic masks and the aesthetics of abstract art.

Donna Sicilia

"The geological era we live in is the 'Anthropocene' because, unlike other living beings, humans, with their eagerness for conquest, have exercised supremacy over nature and have been able to modify it according to their needs. Indifferent to the dangers this attitude entailed, humans have created 'Scars' visible to all, so there is an analysis and reflection on this in the works. Humans manipulate the earth down to its very depths not only by extracting its raw materials but also by carrying out excavation and construction operations. Furthermore, they influence the climate and the air we breathe by polluting it, not to mention the waters filled with waste of all kinds.

Antropocene

"The works are connected to the poetics of 'contemporary ruins,' which tell of past lives with the mute language of nostalgia, spaces far from any logic where the mind is the only guide, using art to build a personal inner signposting in the incomprehensible ocean of existence, where everything reconciles with the idea of lost beauty, its ideal refuge. She often uses the dialoguing power of objects and the power of fragments, which open doors to storytelling, sometimes imaginative but tinged with presentiments and omens. Her fragments and debris are symbols of fears but also of rebellion and resilience.

Detriti

"Black and white, light and shadows. The purity of ice meets the warmth of a freshly extinguished fire. Milena's work has an undeniable psychological charge, often encoded in enigmas, revealing a complexity that is amplified through the use of black pigment. The black predominates over the white, creating a mysterious darkness rich with suggestions that captivate the viewer. It illuminates the depths, bringing out symbolic, poetic thoughts that are sometimes intimate and sometimes universal. Between pathos and ecstasy, there is a need for shadow so that the light can shine in all its brightness.

Ghiaccio e cenere

Milena's dust figures are fleeting yet immortal. The dust she speaks of can be pigment, as well as charcoal, graphite, or pastel marks that bring figures to life within a memory. They are light but indelible. Some works in this series are unique in that they were created in layers; the final image is given by the overlapping of different surfaces and spaces. There is a base image, usually accompanied by objects belonging to that image, which is protected and filtered by glass and plexiglass stained with pigments. In Milena's paintings, there is always the use of powdered pigment that creates rough and textured surfaces.