Italian artist Rossana Taormina's work make us swoon! Vintage photos, thread, and a rockin' hair bow all combine to make an extremely compelling body of work that uses thread to visually represent love.
Thread is used to cut through the space between figures, making their interactions the focal point of her work. For us, the thread depicts the invisible ties between loved ones. For example, the child in "Give Birth (Biography #7)" is lovingly supported by a geometric halo of thread. In "Palermo #2," the thread enhances the sexual tension that exists in the postcard of the Fontana della Vergogna, also known as "the fountain of shame." The thread acts as a web, trapping the statues in their romantic interactions. In "Sequence #5 (the lady)," the woman's gaze is directed at herself by the thread in a photographic diptych, causing it to read as a loving self reflection.
Rossana Taormina's works seem to be packed full of emotionally charged content, and we are constantly impressed by how elegantly they're executed. They make us want to pick up a needle and sew through all of our own family photographs. Thread = <3.
