Aracno-Philia
a project by Bianca Bellan
curated by Elisabetta Pagella
Texture observation is the origin of Aracno-Philia.
People usually recognize an object because of its shape. But if you move closer to that object, that shape and its outline disappear.
The object, limited by lines, has lost its contact with reality and has been replaced by abstract elements and shapes.
The same process happens with an extremely far observation. Our memory can’t associate these images with our knowledge.
The ephemeral border between the micro and macro world melts together.
The Aracno-Philia’s texture resembles a spider’s web; it is made with a unique yarn that joins different points of view and meanings.
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People usually recognize an object because of its shape. But if you move closer to that object, that shape and its outline disappear.
The object, limited by lines, has lost its contact with reality and has been replaced by abstract elements and shapes.
The same process happens with an extremely far observation. Our memory can’t associate these images with our knowledge.
The ephemeral border between the micro and macro world melts together.
The Aracno-Philia’s texture resembles a spider’s web; it is made with a unique yarn that joins different points of view and meanings.
The Metamorphosis of Aracne
Bianca Bellan reflects on the microscopic vision. Seen up close, any object loses its outline and becomes abstract, as it happens in the observation of any landscape from afar.
The artist recreates her sight process through a dress. It has an apparently fragile structure, made up of a strand of wool, but is supported by a paper silhouette which, once in contact with water, will melt, revealing both the manufacture of the dress and the body of the model wearing it.
Like a spider that weaves to create an ever-changing web, Bianca Bellan has finely modeled the threads of mohair wool which, thanks to an ephemeral surface, can transform its form and will never be the same.
This metamorphosis gives unexpected effects, creating a sublime disorientation. The outlines melt, as they do during sunrise and sunset, inconceivable to the eye: ours can only grasp the final passage which, in this case, reveals the body.
Text by Elisabetta Pagella
Bianca Bellan, (Milano, 1996) moves with her family at an early age to the province of Verbania, on the Piedmontese shores of Lake Maggiore. This natural and urban environment deeply influences her sensitivity and imagination, often appearing in her projects.
She graduated in 2020 from the international fashion design degree course at IED Milan; eclectic designer and multifaceted artist, her research converges towards tactile experience and textile innovation.
Elisabetta Pagella (Bergamo, 1996) grew up on the Lake Maggiore, after the classical studies, started the bachelor’s degree in Literature, concluded with a thesis that analyzes the figure of Claudia Gian Ferrari, gallerist, collector and art historian through unpublished materials and interviews with colleagues and artists. The study of this woman introduced her to the artistic movement Novecento italiano and to the contemporary art world.
With the MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies at NABA, in Milan, she has been able to deepen her interests in New-avant-gardes and critical writing but especially in a methodology of analysis and a curatorial approach based on historical archival research.
At the moment she’s working at Galleria Massimo Minini in Brescia.