E. Narcisi

“The Presence of Absence”

Expressive Form: Painting

Artist’s Statement

“If you look today at the sites of destruction, there is a paradox. It is the presence of absence and the absence of presence. You see something, and what you see is also what’s not there.”

• Michael Berenbaum

My body of work captures a corrosive environment inhabited by large disused geometric structures, where girls appear and disappear. The application of rust mediums represents the slow decay, where the robust blocks will inevitably disintegrate into a crumbling powder. Through my use of dry brush, the girls remain with the vestiges of their ethereal skirts, this is contrasted to the solidity of their lower extremities to establish their past presence. The repeated imagery of shoes reflects the inability to cast an imprint into the eroded landscape. As a result of this fragility, there is a notion of embarking on an untraceable ephemeral journey. The collective presence of frail individuals reiterates their state in a hostile world where the notion of absence will forever be endured.