ARTIST STATEMENT
ASSABINIDICA means ‘‘God bless you’’ in Sicilian. It is also a respectful way to greet a person. During the Situ Festival, we made a procession carrying a long tablecloth made up of 7 tablecloths along all the churches of the town of Militello in Sicily, which were open and installed with works for the festival. The tablecloths were hand-embroidered and typical of southern Italy. In the final stage of the performance, in a canopy-cloth lying on the ground, we offered water, wine, bread, and fruit to those who had arrived with us at the end of the path. Under the canopy was the place of interaction and exchange, where we found ourselves connected, burned, and hungry. I ate an apple, whose taste I don’t remember, and drank at least two glasses of wine. It was terribly astringent, but I needed it to calm the nerves after an angry improvisation. Throughout the festival, we performers lived in Militello as ancestral wanderers.
The drawing is an adaptation of my homeland, Umbria. While at my family home in the summer I was able to see a red field well delimited by the green around. I was very drawn to the field, so I asked my mother to accompany me to collect some of the flower petals that created this scene. I then made a jam with the petals of poppies we gathered. The taste of the jam is like a meadow, perhaps even rotten, as the petals of poppies are difficult to manage when in contact with heat. I liked the intense color, the viscosity. In fact, I took a teaspoon and poured some of the jam on the drawing. It is a drawing about addiction and sharing, as well as magic and nature.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
ASSABINIDICA is a Master of Arts candidate in Contemporary Art Curation at the Brera Academy in Milan, Italy. They create works in connection with the place in which they live and what their needs are in that moment. When ASSABINIDICA draws, they attempt to create an image of the flows that inhabit their thoughts.
They have been living between Italy and Spain for two years. Soon they will move to Turkey, where they will continue with their artistic practice, probing a new culture and fascination. The results of their work today were made possible through the various creative experiences that lead to their discovery of new lands, views, and possibilities of interaction.
© ASSABINIDICA