curses & cures.

what strikes me most about marco mazzoni's work, (aside from the fact that they are entirely composed with colored pencils (magic.) ) is the potency each figure has despite that most of them are usually devoid of eyes. haloed in flora & fauna, the women are either shrouded in voids of darkness or a pale light, contrasting the majesty of nature with the more troublesome aspects of the human experience. based on italian folklore, the women, in tandem to the flora, are derivative of the elements of natural healing, representing how women once healed with herbs (& were often caught in a time where they were subsequently burned as witches for these practices). currently marco has new work on view at galleria patricia armocida. 

on the eve of the end . . .

lately it's been absolutely wretched here in philly. the ceaseless rain drenches everything & nothing can warm me. i sleep on the bed sideways and read books about the surrealists & the occult.

the thunder reminds me of when i was a child and thought it meant the end of the world, of the sky literally being ripped open. i also thought it meant a time for monsters, their time to sneak out of wherever they were hiding to wreck evil . . . .

these imaginings haven't faded as much as i'd like them to..... & yet somewhere in all this supernatural worrying, the world is caught up with worry for the end of the world, again. when i was in grad school i was absolutely obsessed with apocalyptic fiction. but lately i see that it all ends the same somehow, with the sky ravaged, people dirty and eating each other & no god in sight. what if the end of the world truly meant the end of the world ? a black blindness, a white light ?

these colored pencil drawings from italy based marco mazzoni have a hint of apocalyptic wonder, of self annihilation & divine light ..... i wrote a mini review of these stunning works over at hi-fructose.

xo