L'air d'Orient Print

Federica Donato believes in a universal language that transcends time, space, and cultural differences. Arts and culture are the areas where people with different views of the world can come together and share experiences. As an artist and educator she lives a major responsibility: arising awareness about globally relevant issues. Her work wants to touch and move people to get to know, wants to trigger personal understanding and generate changes. ​ Her art is as straightforward as it is complex. Raised in the South of Italy she came to appreciate the hybrid formation of the society through the layering of time in successive waves of cultural influences. This has profoundly impacted her education and seeped into her work a lot. Her subjects are often allusive, inspired by ancient history, figures and symbols from classical literature and the old masters. Embedded in her art are a number of philosophical, visual, biological, and language-based subtleties. ​ Most of her works review the loss of human dignity. People and the environment are both victims, abused and deceived by false dialogues across time - victims of hypocritical societies, excessive nationalism, meaningless formalities and unproductive practices. Her last works are realized through the systematic repetition of an ink stamp on paper. This repetitive action points up the constant wrongs others have done before us and that we continue to make. For this series Federica uses alphabet letter stamps in order to emphasize the power words and dialogue have to convey the truth. She believes that only knowledge and awareness of the world can pave the way for a healthier society. Also the minimalist choice of black and white in this series emphasize the message of the urgency of truth. Open mouths, cavities, darkness, fullness and emptiness are like a scream into the void. The space stands as an echo of human brutality. The spectator is challenged to actively view and decode the image. Within the R-evolution series realized by gouache and ink on paper Federica Donato presents bold, simplified forms with a strong visual power. Her objective is to evoke the growing disconnection of the modern world from nature as well as the lost sense of humanity. The variety of shapes and use of color call for a message of hope and personal liberation.