the skin of the surface.

i briefly wrote a bit about artist agostino arrivabene last year here, likening the transformative elements within the flesh of his subjects to current feelings. this still feels true. 

i recently had the chance to see one of his new works in person (more on this soon). despite the evident searing beauty that is apparent from online viewing, beholding one of his paintings in person is an entirely different experience. in the past i had found myself attracted to paintings that had smooth surfaces & highly controlled paint application. here though, the surface of the paintings feels like a living thing. it is a chaos, it is a skin, its texture reveals an emotive snare that reels me all the way in. for me, this works in tandem to the incredible subject matter, lone figures set in darkness, their bodies housing delicate and spidery flora. there always seems to be a kind of seamless melancholy to his work, as if the viewer was catching these beings at the precise moment they decided to no longer be netted . . . instead, a kind of metamorphic, beautiful, wildness blooms from them, reaching up, reaching out . . .