ARIANNA

A work for the "MAF" museum in the park at the Nosedo sewage treatment plant in Milan, near the Chiaravalle abbey, within the 2020 schedule of the city's cultural initiatives dedicated to "Women's talents".
It was born from the real imprint of my mother’s thumb (finger as symbol of humanity and fundamental element for human creativity), digitally reworked and transported to the ground in the way you can see in the attached photos.
At the center of the work (and integrated with it) there is a wooden form, that refers to a seed, or a bulb ready to bloom, or a spindle, inspired by ancient fetishes of rebirth and fertility still visible in traditional festivals in some places in the Alps (see, for example, the "Puento" in Chiomonte, near Turin).
Following an accurate preliminary study through both traditional drawing and computer graphics, each component of the work was handmade without the aid of machinery and following traditional techniques linked to ancient agricultural practices.
In fact, it is a fundamental component of my poetics to relate to the landscape through artistic work to discover and try to overcome one's individual limits in balance with nature.
Access to the interior of "Arianna", to walk through her labyrinth, it is forbidden to visitors by a museumstyle perimeter cordon to make people think, first, about the relationship between citizens and public art.
Here are the curator's words about “Arianna” (please note English version below):

Il filo conduttore della vita…
Terra, natura, labirinto, filo e tessitura. I punti chiave per comprendere “Arianna”. La riflessione su una spirale che può assumere diversi significati in base al punto di vista da cui la si guarda o la si pensa, un’impronta digitale o magari un labirinto. Un filo che si avvolge in tante ellissi che girando attorno ad un fuso, crea un labirinto, reale e immaginario. Come nel labirinto del Minotauro è una donna che risolve il labirinto, Arianna, che ci aiuta a percorrere i solchi nella terra. All’interno dell’opera si trova un fuso, un intreccio creato dalla natura, Madre Natura che ci accompagna nel labirinto della vita con l’uomo che pone la sua impronta sulla terra. Un discorso sul territorio, sul paesaggio, un filo conduttore, come un corso d’acqua che crea canali che si intrecciano per creare una rete. Legno e terra, semplice, perfetto per un racconto, la trama di un tessuto.
Gloria Longhi, curatrice

The common thread of life...
Earth, nature, maze, thread and texture. The key points to understand “Arianna”. The reflection on a spiral that can take on different meanings based on the point of view from which you look at it or think of it, a fingerprint or perhaps a labyrinth. A thread that winds itself in many ellipses that, turning around a spindle, creates a real and imaginary maze. As in the labyrinth of the Minotaur, it is a woman who solves the maze, Ariadne (Arianna), who helps us walk the grooves in the earth. Inside the work, there is a spindle: an intertwining created by nature, Mother Nature who accompanies us in the labyrinth of life, with man who places his imprint on the earth. A discourse on the territory, on the landscape, a common thread, like a river that creates channels that intertwine to create a network. Wood and earth, simple, perfect for a story, the texture of a fabric.
Gloria Longhi, curator

PHOTO CREDIT:
for photo number 1, at the beginning: Google Earth
for photo number 19, at the end of presentation: GLORIA LONGHI (special thanks) Read more