In the two artists' opinion, nature is a means for spiritual elevation and salvation. It is a zero point from which humans come from and to which they must return. The exhibition curator, Carolina Lio, writes in the catalog: "The work of Annalù crystallizes in the resin the essence of the four elements, in particular the fluidity of water. The circular movement, that reminds of life’s circularity and of infinity, is expressed through mandalas constructed by the flight of legendary butterflies that do not really exist in nature, symbols of a perfect freedom and lightness.” The exhibition has a strong mystical and meditative character. The curator continues: “for Jessica Fong, nature is the terrain of contact with a divine dimension where everything assumes an order and a harmony, where everything is precious, where each shape can become a completion of ourself, as through her precious jewels. Her mission is precisely to give back to the world the spirituality of our ancestors which has been lost over the centuries.”
The affinity of the two artists' vision and ideas also corresponds to the most frequently used symbols that identify their languages: butterflies and lotus flowers. It is precisely after observing this spontaneous coincidence that Grace Lee, the project creator, decided to design this unusual experiment to combine in the same show one sculptor and one jewelry designer, creating a bridge exhibition between two creative expressions actually very similar but rarely compared. Both sculpture and jewelry, in fact, are strongly tied to matter, to their preparation, to their ability to forge the natural elements creating their own idealized environment. In the case of Annalù and Jessica, in particular, these are means to create a new legendary nature that joins together the material and the spiritual component inside each of us.
Their approach to the two disciplines is very similar to ancient alchemy, in which, through the knowledge of physical matter, scientists and philosophers of past centuries tried to reach one formula- a noble and mystical solution for the total wellbeing of humanity. Their works transcend the medium itself by which they are created and move on a metaphysical field made by the ethereal contact between the physical world and the soul. So, Annalù's sculptures are not only sculptures. And Jessica Fong's jewelry are not just jewelry. But they become symbols motionless and yet gifted with life. The exhibition should therefore be seen as the unfolding of one of those ancient legends where magical worlds were intended as a portal of communication between the earthly and the divine and an enchanting nature used to form the background to poetic and mystical tales.
Image: © Annalu, Red Elation Gallery
