Schiava Della Luce 2017

Roberto Ferri made this haunting oil painting, Schiava Della Luce, sometime in the 21st century, and it’s a trip. The color palette is muted, almost monochromatic, lending it a kind of old-world feel, while the subject matter pulls us somewhere else entirely. It feels like it's exploring the process of making art itself, the push and pull between control and letting go. The texture is incredibly smooth, but the details, like the chain and the lines of the figure's back, are sharp. The missing arm attached to a chain gives the piece a surreal edge. It's a painting about loss and constraint but also about beauty and resilience, and that compass-like tattoo on her hip suggests a journey, a search for direction. There is a realness here, a vulnerability, it reminds me of Jenny Saville's unflinching portraits. I like that Ferri embraces ambiguity, leaving space for us to bring our own stories and experiences to the work.