Lisa Batacchi
Sand Storms in Medio Mundi – Imaginatio Vera
The LdM Gallery is pleased to present Sand Storms in Medio Mundi – Imaginatio Vera, a solo exhibition by Italian American multidisciplinary artist, Lisa Batacchi.
The artist presents the three tapestries created after a long process of travel, study and research that represent three phases of the development of the spirit.
The first piece created, Meditating on Earth, is woven in beige colors and introduces the concept of earth. Mother Earth, a feminine energy that governs nature. The artist created brocaded triangles, the vortices, or waves of a sand storm. One facing up to the North and one down South, they represent the eternal dance between good and evil, positive and negative, typical dichotomy for Zoroastrian religion, as if the opposite poles were ready to create movement that allows the energy to flow, but needed a final push.
The World Is so far Reversed draws our gaze to the centre, representing firm, masculine energy referring to the state of the world today, being on the edge of big changes.
The final work in the series, The Spirit Will Return to Us, which the artist executed herself in a time span of almost a year, has a centre, a northern star, the first tool of orientation for human beings., From the star in the middle, four tentacles extend, dividing the surface into four sections: two darker, representing terrain, and two lighter, representing the celestial. The four tentacles are forming an ancient symbol that represents the vital energy of the sun. The tentacles trigger the circular movement of vital energy.
The tapestries manually executed by Batacchi on a vertical loom show us the creation of color shades, shapes that represent the earth, the sky, ancient symbols such as the sun, the stars, the vortices of sand storms that are intertwined in the narration made up of thousands of yarns. The artist begins to create on one part of the tapestry and then resumes work on the other side, always keeping in mind the overall picture, the preparatory drawing, whose appearance she wants to reproduce. To create we need space and to have space sometimes we need to destroy, overturn, discover or reveal like the waves of the winds that blow during sandstorms do. And when the storm calms down, when the work is done we can see the harmony that arises from the chaos – we have arrived at the Imaginatio Vera, interworld between the sensible and the intelligible, a place that existed in ancient Persia and the disappearance of which led to the catastrophe of the spirit. Perhaps being able to enter the Imaginatio Vera again means discovering the possible space from which to begin to change the destiny of the world?
Gallery Supervisor: Špela Zidar
Intern: Catherine Amis
LdM Gallery, Via de’Pucci 4 – Firenze
Opening: September 26th, 5pm-8pm
Duration September 26th to October 17th
Opening hours Mon, Tue, Fri 4-7pm, Wed, Thu 10am-2pm
The LdM Gallery is a project by Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, an interdisciplinary space where academic research and artistic experimentation meet within a professional setting.
[email protected] www.ldminstitute.com [email protected]
Student Testimonials from the International marketing class:
The experience at the exhibition today was transformative in establishing a broader
perspective of the concepts and something I really enjoyed. Specifically, the aspect of
dichotomies particularly intrigued me. I enjoyed seeing the intricate textures and designs
that were featured on the tapestries. The arrow indicating the duality of life was quite
interesting. In life, something good can be undone very quickly and turn bad, as
exemplified via sandstorms. For instance, a sandcastle being built on a beach for hours
only to be destroyed in seconds by one powerful wave. I felt several feelings throughout
the exhibit, such as curiosity and confusion. It made me reflect on nature and how several
of its processes are the opposite of each other, such as water having the ability to put out
fire. The element of sustainability resonated well with me, it reminded me that elements in
nature can be recycled and move from one form to another. Sustainability is very important
in today’s society, and I am glad that the exhibition made this an element of focus and
importance.
Nicole
I thought that the exhibition was really interesting, especially how it used different
tapestries to show the similarities and differences between masculinity and femininity and
how each was represented. It was extremely interesting for example the difference
between the positives and negatives. I liked how it showed personal growth and how it
didn’t have one strict meaning but how it was up for your interpretation. The sustainability
aspect was also intriguing due to the use of raw silk that was barely dyed or touched but
was just straight from nature. I think it’s important nowadays to keep in mind what artists
are using and make sure that they are not worsening the conditions of the earth but that
they can create using natural resources.
Giada
“The most prominent feeling I felt was peace, the colors, the texture, the patterns and the
atmosphere of the exhibition made me feel calm, also I think it is very congruent that this
Sand Storms in Medio Mundi art wants to transmit something spiritual”.
Ximena
“(…) I felt a sort of peace when looking at her art and had many thoughts of how much
patience and time this took the artist and how she is trying to portray that in her art
because it is a simple but beautiful piece of art. Sustainability resonated with me because
it was a piece that took a lot of time and spoke with a sandy and peaceful look.”
Kira
“I greatly appreciated the opportunity to enjoy the Gallery and the artists’ tapestry work. To
begin, I thought the tapestry medium was very interesting. It was my first time getting to
experience that kind of art and I would like to explore more series that utilize that kind of
art. Diving deeper into the art itself, I thought it was an important message to be sharing
regarding the spirituality of the world. I found parallels with other religious beliefs such as
the Yin and Yang. After being able to view the art, I found myself revisiting some spiritual
questions that I had previously abandoned. Lastly, the artist’s careful selection of silk
shows that she is valuing sustainability. Additionally, her attempts to revive a dying art is in
itself a practice of sustainability”.
Kane
“I feel inspired to put more energy into my spiritual journey and practice to reach a level of
more enlightenment. I had a first wave of awakening back in my junior year of high school
and I always continue to practice – though there are moments of more effort than not – and
maybe I should learn to treat every day with the same dedication to myself and my
spirituality”.
Hailey
“I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibition as well as the execution of the concept. Witnessing an
Italian perspective and interpretation of such an ancient philology was fascinating. The
duality of spiritual beliefs rooted in Zoroastrianism is universal and very separate from
Islam, and I believe that introducing these concepts to the Western mindset, especially for
Italians, through art like this is a beautiful act of globalization and connecting people
through the barriers of cross-cultural communication. I felt touched by the exhibition, I
could feel the appreciation behind the artist for this belief system that is currently
underrepresented and it encouraged me to educate myself on these concepts more
deeply”.
Aishah
Student Testimonials from the Principles of Marketing class:
My overall impression on the experience was good. I think the tapestries were impressive
and they progressed in a good way that you could see the journey. I do wish we could
have a little more insight into what some of the things on the tapestry meant. I understand
it has a desert feel to it, but I was not quite sure what to look for exactly or what the
message being sent was. That leads me into my emotions or feelings, which at first was
confusion. I didn’t really understand the feminine / masculine aspects of the tapestries, and
I still am not sure what the colors were supposed to represent. The one interpretation that I
came up with by myself was that it represents the roller coaster of life. At first, the tapestry
was clean woven, perhaps representing young age and blissfulness, the second tapestry was ripped and had ascending symbols, perhaps representing the struggles of life and the
journey out, and the third tapestry was clean woven and symmetrical, perhaps
representing finding peace in life. That was how I saw it. I think the tapestries relate to
sustainability in that they are hand woven and take time. They represent a greater theme
of art and the ability to create beautiful works through one’s own hand and that beautiful
things take time, in this case 2-3 months and even a year. I think it encourages the notion
that we don’t always have to consume the most amount of things, and that we can slow
down from time to time, which goes along with the ideas of sustainability.
Micheal
I thought this was a very interesting experience, and the artwork was unique which I
enjoyed. I think the artist did a great job at drawing out a certain emotion and feeling
through her pieces, which were a sense of calmness. I appreciated the element of
sustainability, because in our current society, everyone seems to address sustainability
differently, but I feel like her piece of art demonstrates a perfect balance between
sustainability and an interesting piece of art.
Gabrielle
My overall thoughts of this experience were that art is an amazing thing that only some
people can understand or have the ability to interpret, it doesn’t mean it’s a good or a bad
thing, the visit to the exhibition was inspiring. It made me reflect on the deeper meaning
behind art and creativity. I felt a mixture of awe and responsibility. The pieces made me
open my mind to new thoughts about art and how the girl was explaining us and the story
of how the artist came up with those pieces and the meaning behind them but that also we
needed to use our creativity. The exhibition highlighted how art can be a powerful tool to
communicate and raise awareness about sustainability in a way that marketing or data
alone can’t achieve.
Ximena
I thought the exhibit was very interesting. The tapestries were so poetic yet so simple at
the same time.as the girl was explaining the art work and the thought process behind
creating the tapestries, it really put her mind into perspective. I definitely had more of an
open mind after seeing this art exhibit. Ive never really interpreted art well. Hearing the
description of the tapestries, i really saw how the artist felt while creating the pieces and
could understand the masculine and feminine energy that was presented.
Madeline
My overall thoughts of the experience were that the art was very aesthetically pleasing,
and you could instantly see how much craftsmanship and detail went into each loom. It
also gave the feeling of being very old/traditional even though they were made very
recently. The emotions I felt were complex. I felt like I was back in time and even in a
completely different part of the world while looking at these pieces. They made me feel
more carefree because they took me back to a period when there were fewer modern
stresses, and people could take in Mother Nature’s beauty to the fullest. It resonated well
with me because I think sustainability is very important for the future of not only our
generation but the generations to come. It makes sense that this piece was created
sustainably because the artist took us back to a time when everything was created
sustainably.
Aidan
I found it interesting and empowering that the artist decided to create pieces of artwork to
depict the spiritual journey. Especially how she used her art as her spiritual journey by
meditating throughout the process of creating her pieces. I believe that meditation is a truly
powerful tool for people that can help us get in tune with our inner selves and help us
reflect on who we are and what we put out to the world. The meditation and spiritual
journey aspects of the art pieces deeply resonated with me. I grew up following and
learning within the catholic church but recently started studying a bit of Buddhism, mainly
focusing on yoga and meditation. So I feel I have a deeper understanding of what the
artist’s experience was like while creating the pieces. Sustainability is very important to
me, I think that we have lived in a world where sustainability wasn’t talked about or
practiced enough in the past so I appreciated how important it was for the artist as well
and how she incorporated her passion for sustainability into her artwork.
Isabelle
I thought the experience was extremely eye-opening because of the deep interpretation
you had to have in order to see the vision behind the tapestries. The different levels to
each piece of art had so much to offer and I would have never been able to guess what
the meaning was if I had not been told. The speaker did a great job informing us about the
thought and creation process. Overall, I was very impressed with this new form of art and it
has opened my mind to deeper, intricate interpretations. I had an array of emotions but the
most prominent was confusion. If I’m being fully honest, it was difficult for me to see the
message of the artwork the speaker was explaining. I am not a huge art junkie and do not
have a knack for being able to understand messages behind art. However, I did feel the
sense of peace behind each tapestry because of the smooth, light colored strings placed
in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Sara