as within so without – series
The aura is defined as a luminous emanation of energy, normally invisible to the naked eye.
Its existence, though not scientifically proven, has been acknowledged since the time of the ancient Egyptians and has often been depicted in art as a golden halo surrounding figures of particular charisma or holiness.
With this work, I intended to explore an unmanifest aspect of the reality around us, connected to the emotions and states of mind with which we approach it—and of which it, in turn, is an emanation.
The title of the series, As Within So Without, is borrowed from the second Hermetic principle of analogy or correspondence (“As above, so below – as below, so above. As within, so without – as without, so within. As in the great, so in the small”), and refers to the idea that for everything that exists, there is a correspondence at every level of consciousness.
This means that it is possible to recognize the great in the small and the small in the great, and that our external reality presents itself to us as a reflection of our inner world.
As within so without #1
These shots were first presented during my solo exhibition “Unmanifest Potential”, in July 2015.
Title
As within so without #1
Date
2015
Medium
Digital photos, magnetic acrylic frames
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #2
This work was created for Cenaconme – Chapter 12: THE LIGHT ROOM “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”, which took place in Milan, in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, on July 7th, 2016.
Title
As within so without #2
Date
2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #3
The series consists of 26 shots of as many photographs displayed on the Wall of Heroes at the House of Terror Museum in Budapest. The people portrayed are just a few of the thousands of victims of the resistance against the Soviet occupation of 1956 and the subsequent reprisals by the communist regime.
Title
As within so without #3
Date
2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #4
And I was thinking, swayed by the carriage,
dear friend, time takes, time gives.
We always run in one direction,
but what it is and what it means—who knows?
What remain are timeless dreams,
the impressions of a moment,
the lights in the dark of homes glimpsed from a train.
We are something that does not stay,
empty phrases in our heads,
and hearts full of symbols.
– Francesco Guccini –
Title
As within so without #4
Date
2015-2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #5
How hard it is to escape from places. However carefully one goes they hold you — you leave little bits of yourself fluttering on the fences — like rags and shreds of your very life.
– Katherine Mansfield –
Title
As within so without #5
Date
2015-2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #6
Non-places, as Marc Augé reminds us, are focused solely on the present and are highly representative of our era, which is marked by absolute precariousness, transience, passage, and a solitary individualism.
People move through non-places, but no one inhabits them.
And so, I search for what remains of that passage.
Title
As within so without #6
Date
2015-2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #7
I have gathered here some auras of ordinary people. Many were captured in their daily activities, sometimes unconsciously, or during special occasions, such as dinners, events, etc.; others chose to be portrayed during the opening period of my solo exhibition “Potenziale Immanifesto”, between July and October 2015.
Title
As within so without #7
Date
2015-2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each
As within so without #8
This work is the result of a collaboration with composer Umberto Bombardelli, who in 2016 asked me to create the cover for his monographic album *”Aura”*, released by EMA Vinci L\&C in 2018. I decided to photograph his handwritten sheet music in order to capture a different “essence” of it.
Title
As within so without #8
Date
2016
Medium
digital photos
Size
cm 11,5×15 each