Lisa Lurati

Lisa Lurati is an artist who uses photography as raw material in her work, exploring ancient techniques such as cyanotype, developed in the 19th century. This method uses iron salts sensitive to ultraviolet light, applied to paper or fabric. Inspired by the fascinating work of English botanist Anna Atkins, known for her “Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions” published in 1843, Lisa Lurati uses cyanotype in a painterly approach to create large, mysterious canvases. She describes these works as an imaginary documentation of nature, combining existing elements with invented ones. In the work presented within the Villa, the tapestry depicts oversized plants, foliage, and animals from the Mesozoic era, immersing us in a kind of forgotten paradise. This dreamlike vision of an imaginary landscape where lush flora is tinged with blue removes any sense of temporality, and at the heart of the composition, giant flower-clouds rise towards the sky, suggesting the idea of a dominant flora reigning over this fantastical world. Outside, oversized seashells seem to gaze at us, straight from the lake. Her works, sculptures, videos, paintings, or prints, thus create a link between macrocosm and microcosm while exploring elements of the magical world or arising from the depths of the unconscious.