Lo spazio. Il tempo. Print

Alessandra Maisto is an Italian artist, class of 1990, born in Naples where she attended the Accademia delle Belle Arti, with a degree in visual arts. Her artistic work is opened on the spiritually, by raising spirit and body beyond the common and corrupt world that surrounds the human being. A kind of elevation that drags the inherent human material dimension, with own fairs and weaknesses, and in the same moment, it makes it an integral part of the nature, a soft, but traumatic back to basics. This method is rendered as a rite, a ceremonial act, a custom deeply rooted throughout southern Italy. In this way, the artist recalls his origins, but with a personal use, placing her installations in a sort of contemporary reliquary, thus creating her own cult. The energy and Manichean link between light and dark, her nature as an experimenter lead her to combine different elements, moving from painting to installation. On a two-dimensional level, painting merges with raw fabric, sometimes flooded with melted wax, creating unique effects. Oil colours, melted earth and gold become symbols. This symbolism is the same as in studies of the sacred, mythology and popular beliefs. The golden almond that takes the form of an eye is already its sign, in different ways, sometimes filling the surrounding space, at other times becoming so small that it is concealed in the work, pushing the viewer to search for that unique sign. The fabric used as a pictorial support leaves the frame to become part of the installation, evoking the simplicity and sense of mystery typical of ancient rituals. The raw fabric becomes the shroud of Christ and intersects with that used in ancient times to work the bread, thus becoming a eulogy of birth. In her atelier in Naples, Alessandra Maisto works actively making of art her only job. She exhibits in Trapani with a personal exhibit, then in Rome, Florence, Milan and, of course, Naples.