Artist Statement
You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders, but in the answers it gives you to questions of yours”
Marco Polo speaking to Kublai Khan about his travels, ‘Invisible Cities’ Italo Calvino p.37
My paintings explore my connection to psycho-geography defined by the Situationist art group 1957-1972.
“Psycho-geography: The study of the specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour on individuals.”
I am mesmerised and inspired by this concept. As I walk through city streets, I perform a conscious walk and reflection through the urban space. It allows me to feel the past the present as well as projecting thoughts of the future within the city. I am aware of unspoken subtle energies that permeate from Historic and modern buildings, skyscrapers, architecture, city squares, open spaces, lane ways; cranes and construction sites.
I am taken in by the excitement and moods created by lights, traffic, festivals, protests, stores, coffee shops, libraries, churches and spiritual spaces. Sunlight, shadows, the sounds and smells and how people interact within these spaces, and I’m interested in the stories, thoughts and ideas that come from these elements.
My working process is intuitive, exploratory and spontaneous.
I have explored aspects and theories of interconnectedness and vulnerability and the weaknesses and strengths of this combination. The imagery or elements that emerge in one work form a catalyst for the next.
My art also looks at this in terms of the human condition and the metaphysics of existence.
I work in various mediums, from extended assemblage of soft sculpture, installation, performance, multi media and painting.
Enza Benincasa