Sancte Spiritus

Sancte Spiritus (2018)
Wood, gold leaf and pigmented epoxy resins, dim. 115 x 115 cm

The work Sancte Spiritus evidences a clear discontinuity with the present: here, art aims above all to become prayer.

While reality is fleeting and impossible to understand, and reason cannot lead us beyond the threshold of mystery, losing oneself to faith through artistic practice can lead to a new, disquieting knowledge of life.

The search for this kind of knowledge motivates the choice of subject for this work, where the vital breath that gives life to all creatures, animating their matter, is called upon to guide the process of artistic creation.

The traditional iconography of the Holy Spirit is thus melded with references to the elements of nature: earth, water, fire, and wind, which here become gifts of God and examples of His grace.

However, dialogue with the divine and a personal need for spirituality are not incompatible with rigorous formal research, but instead entail the attainment of a point of balance.

Thus, invention, repetition, and iconographic registers long sedimented within Western culture, together with the choice of techniques and materials, become instruments with which to seek a new artistic identity.

Patrizia Gelli
Storica dell’Arte

“Veni, Creator Spiritus… Come, Holy Spirit”