Ferme La Bouche 2016

Camilla d'Errico made Ferme La Bouche, it looks like, with delicate brushstrokes and a pastel palette. The composition feels kind of surreal, like a dreamscape where the familiar is twisted just enough to unsettle you. Up close, you can see that the surface isn't just flat color. There's this subtle wood grain peeking through the washes of yellow and white. Look how the snake winds around the girl's body. It’s so tactile, you can almost feel the scales. Then there’s the detail in the lace, all this careful, intricate work that contrasts with the smoothness of the snake and the girl's skin. The way d’Errico layers these elements, and merges the girl, the snake, and the birds is reminiscent of Frida Kahlo, who also liked to populate her pieces with animals and question the boundary between inner and outer worlds.