ARBOREXENCE | LORIS CECCHINI
The sculptures created by Loris Cecchini are biological metaphors that represent complex molecular structures, capable of engaging articulately with the space in which they are placed. Created in stainless steel and composed of multiple conical-shaped modules welded together, they can be assembled in infinite combinations, much like molecular structures. It is precisely due to this characteristic that the sculptures manage to adapt to the exhibition space in which they are installed, creating a kind of sequence within Cecchini’s body of work, while maintaining their own independent identity.
Arborexence (2023), like other works by the same author, is a site-specific project that unfolds, in its branching, on the brick facades of a hotel located in the English countryside near Oxford, amidst a rich bucolic landscape. In this setting, the silvery steel of which the work is composed stands out and creates a stark contrast with the natural colors of the surrounding vegetation, while still maintaining an underlying harmony due to the branching form that the installation shares with trees and bushes.
Arborexence has no beginning, nor end, nor center; it extends upwards, embracing the building as if it were an artificial hedge. What might appear as an infestation suggests, at the same time, a profound, structural, essential approach to what surrounds us.
A vivid dialogue is created between nature and artifice: the landscape is subject to seasonal changes and therefore constantly evolving, while Cecchini’s work, made of stainless steel, will remain unchanged over time, as if frozen. Although its presence is, to some extent, effectively integrated into the space, one cannot help but notice how complicated, sometimes, the interactions between the natural world and the anthropological work can be, no matter how coherent it is with the context.
Loris Cecchini
Arborexence, 2023
Welded stainless steel modules, temporary site-specific installation, variable sizes
Installation view MITICO, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, A Belmond Hotel, Oxfordshire
Courtesy the artist and GALLERIA CONTINUA, photo by Marco Valmarana
18/10/2023