Nocturna 2020

Curator: Camilla d'Errico's acrylic on canvas piece, "Nocturna," created in 2020, strikes me with its blend of the figurative, the surreal, and elements of pop art. What are your immediate observations? Editor: The smoothness of the painting grabs my attention, the flawless blending. It's visually magnetic, but what is that on her head? It’s an almost Disney-esque take on something darker... an unsettling quality, even. Curator: Absolutely, it embodies what some call 'pop-surrealism'. I see that crown of sea life atop her head as symbolic. In many indigenous water myths, there’s a figure that connects humanity and the ocean. This piece feels like a 21st-century iteration of those powerful archetypes. The work is also representative of a modern ideal that the ocean faces threats in late-stage capitalism due to the pollution it faces. Editor: You see symbolism; I see semiotics. The colours create a visual language here: the intense blues contrasted with the character's skin and the vivid, though oddly vacant, stares of the fish—they produce a fascinating system. Are the creatures extensions of her psyche or decorations for our amusement? Or are they both, caught in the structural elements of line and form? Curator: It prompts us to question beauty standards, too. D’Errico challenges conventions, portraying non-white figures in otherworldly contexts, disrupting colonial narratives inherent to mermaid tropes, for example. Her placement amidst a seascape is about reclaiming mythic power. It becomes more than just visual aesthetics, you see. Editor: Well, the interplay between realism and fantasy destabilizes conventional notions, indeed, even on a formal level. We have almost photorealistic qualities clashing with an idealized, doll-like figure that exists seemingly nowhere, and therefore everywhere, at once. Curator: Ultimately, it's this intersectionality that compels me – D'Errico crafts something that transcends style. She offers social commentary, challenging norms while pushing boundaries of art itself, creating a visual experience ripe for interpretation and discourse. Editor: I can appreciate that it exists both inside and outside set definitions and frameworks, resisting categorization in a productive and rather satisfying way.