THE TREE OVERSEAS 2019

Curator: This is Sergio Mario Illuminato’s “The Tree Overseas,” crafted in 2019 using a mix of media, including impasto, oil and acrylic paint. What are your initial impressions? Editor: Texturally, it's really compelling. The bark seems almost to leap off the canvas, incredibly dimensional. The division of the canvas creates a striking horizontal band between earth and sky, if you can even call that blue space a 'sky.' The material reality definitely seems to outweigh anything remotely 'natural' that the scene offers. Curator: It's fascinating how the artist plays with texture and form. Notice how the impasto technique creates this tactile surface, emphasizing the roughness and organic quality of the tree bark. The color palette is deliberately earthy juxtaposed with that aggressively artificial blue expanse. What impact does this have, in your opinion? Editor: It creates a sense of estrangement. The rough bark contrasted against the unnatural sky makes it look almost… out of context. Given its date, it almost feels like an ecological statement, something on the precipice of change, given Illuminato's overall tendencies. There is this looming quality hanging over organic material being overwhelmed by this artificial barrier behind. Curator: Absolutely. The historical and socio-political implications of this contrast are undeniable. Do you find the formal structure effectively enhances this narrative? The way the tree almost rigidly divides the plane has some affect, it would seem. Editor: For sure, and if we follow our semiotic conventions about vertical lines 'elevating', it appears that something else is blocking the process. The artist perhaps wanted to display this idea in its barest form; you look at a landscape and cannot escape the fact that industry has intervened, and is actively interrupting nature. The application creates an undeniable materiality of this 'landscape' which suggests both damage, and the resilience of matter itself. Curator: Illuminato’s skill in layering these mediums to evoke not only a visual but a tactile response creates a very visceral, powerful piece that captures something fundamental about the interplay of matter and industrial reality, in our global situation. Editor: A powerful and haunting meditation. Its material starkness is quite sobering to reflect upon.