Mamba Mia 2016

Curator: Camilla d’Errico, working in mixed media, brings us “Mamba Mia” from 2016. It's an evocative piece, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Yes, immediately striking. There’s an almost oppressive tension here. The image presents a female figure visually dominated by the snake. The pastel shades offer an aesthetic of dreamy unreality, even as the subject seems entrapped and distressed. Curator: That serpent, I think, resonates on multiple levels. Snakes, culturally, often signify transformation, healing, but also temptation and danger. Here, its coils echo the eternal ouroboros, a symbol of cyclical rebirth, yet there's also something inherently suffocating in its tight embrace around her head. The rainbow rock perched above recalls sacred stones, but its placement above the girl gives a feeling of foreboding. Editor: Exactly. What's critical here is to acknowledge the artist’s consistent engagement with depictions of female power, particularly through the lens of surrealism. Look at the woman’s upturned gaze, her half-open mouth, her fingers seemingly gripping at the “melting” colorful material cascading down her head. This feels like a visual scream. Curator: You read it as struggle? I saw it, at first, as an almost devotional submission. Her partially visible face has an element of reverie and awe as if experiencing a psychedelic communion. Consider the almost naive use of color and texture. The drips cascading down evoke a physical response that has a kind of childlike energy, yet also an inherent unease that reflects what might be happening internally. Editor: While I can see that interpretation, I’m compelled to interpret this through a feminist lens. The subject’s face and form become the support for, rather than the center of, the piece. Note too the cultural significance of the snake; in Western culture it frequently becomes an allegorical expression of womanhood’s danger. The title, "Mamba Mia", seems an appropriation of this anxiety around both womanhood and danger. Curator: It certainly demands consideration. To me, "Mamba Mia" speaks to a much older symbolic conversation – one that involves femininity as a symbol of life's enduring mysteries and transformations, co-existing with elements of risk and precariousness. The artist encourages a sustained introspection around the power of female subjects. Editor: Yes. It makes you really consider the multifaceted historical dimensions of female representation and lived realities. Thank you, it makes me see it slightly differently now. Curator: It is wonderful how art can inspire such perspectives. Thanks for sharing!