7th Biënale Ravenna 2022
From October 8 to January 8, 2022 my ‘Lady in bikini’ from the series ‘Roman with a twist’ will participate in the Biennale in Ravenna. My work, along with 33 other works, was selected from 72 entries to participate in this exhibition (the date on the poster is incorrect as it was extended a week before the start).
Something I am very proud of.
In November I traveled to Ravenna to soak up the local atmosphere myself.
This is the explanation of the work I send to the jury.
What would the Romans make if they were still making mosaics today? That’s the question I asked myself. So I started making a series called ‘Roman with a twist’. The twist is that I apply the Roman andamenti rules, but I use an image that is contemporary, with objects that did not exist in Roman times, or sports that did not exist, … Which causes some twists and turns to take place in the brain before you see the full picture for what it is. Not an old Roman mosaic but a translation to our time. I also occasionally use a piece of leather or some cardboard which is also different from the Roman mosaics. Each mosaic has a counterpart in ancient Roman mosaics. In this case ‘The bikini girls’ of the
Villa Romana del Casale op Piazza Armerina. This lady is clearly comfortable in her own skin and is very elegant. The people who already saw this mosaic are starting to smile and I like that a lot because times have been gloomy enough in recent years. Furthermore, I hope to give the Roman mosaics a kind of revival where I can build a bridge to the many beautiful contemporary mosaic arts that we can now discover everywhere. Because I often notice that few people know that mosaic is much more than just Roman and Byzantine mosaics.
In making this series, I also noticed that not much has changed, apart from the advancement of technology. We still like martial arts, there are still performing arts (theatre, concerts,…), but in general the themes I can choose are similar to those of Roman times.
It is sometimes quite a challenge to implement the simplifications and it never ceases to amaze me how realistic you can work with just a few colors of marble.
My mosaics are more anatomically correct because I have more modern tools at my disposal to achieve this result. Again different from Roman times, but I can’t help but admire what the Romans left us in so many beautiful and amazing mosaics.
I have already received a lot of positive reactions from people who have seen my mosaic there, and the lady has even been sold to a man in Germany.
In the meantime I have become very excited to depict even more plus size ladies.
Some of the wonderful responses I received:
Brendan: This is so awesome are you doing a series of these? If not YOU DEF SHOULD! Brilliant idea and take on the Roman mosaic….and just such a cool piece across the board…forget the Romans…. You have your own magic happening here!
Jane: She’s so gorgeous! As a plus size woman with a disability, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making a beautiful plus size woman the subject of your art. I never see women who look like me in artwork.
Pamela: I think she’s gorgeous and you’ve captured something wonderful here.Society always wants skinny women on magazine covers etc. But we aren’t all meant to be the same are we. This is a unique mosaic and you are very talented.
