Gaia Fugazza

Natural Response, 2019

Quilted maple plywood, beeswax, mineral pigments, rubber.

25 x 32 cm

The artist explores the notion that decisions and actions we perceive to be autonomous, are in fact linked to the whole environment. What we refer to as ‘will’, is just a result of the situation we are immersed in. In this composition she attempts to represent the many entities that populate a person, and the constant shift between the perception of the self as a unity and as an interconnected multitude.

Gaia Fugazza’s practice includes paintings and performances exploring the troubled relationship of humans and the natural environment, plant knowledge, reproduction and transcendental practices.

Fugazza experiments with organic materials and ancient techniques, which she approaches with an interest in the performative value of their use. In her works the subject and the process often compete and interchange as protagonists. In her performances, she choreographs unexpected situations that engage the public as collaborators of experiments or rituals, all aiming at stimulating a sense of self-awareness and communal presence within an animist landscape.

Contraceptive series, 2015

Woman cleaning. Coil and breast implants

Copper tread, Beeswax, Blanc de Meudon, rabbit skin glue, Chinese Ink, pigments, acrylic medium on carved wood

40 x 60 cm

Woman eating contraceptive pill. Moons

Copper tread, Beeswax, Blanc de Meudon, rabbit skin glue, Chinese Ink, pigments, acrylic medium on carved wood

40 x 60 cm

Virginity is not a contraceptive, shooting star in pisces

Copper tread, Beeswax, Blanc de Meudon, rabbit skin glue, Chinese Ink, pigments, acrylic medium on carved wood

40 x 60 cm

* Works can be sold either as a tryptic or individually.

Contraceptive series is anon-going series of works that present different methods of female contraception. Historically, from the late Middle Age onwards, contraception has been criminalised trough accusation of witchcraft. Until then, women had access to a vast knowledge of herbal birth control and abortive methods. These have been demonised and eventually forgotten, for contraception to then come back in the 60s in the hands of pharmaceutical firms. I’m currently putting together a research group to address this subject from an artistic, psychological, botanical and scientific point of view.

Non chiedermi perche’, 2019 ( mixed media)

Quilted maple plywood, beeswax, mineral pigments, rubber

Signed

25 x 32 cm

These paintings have no shadows, they are linked to contemporary life, but inspired by archetypes of the past while possibly presenting themselves as propositions for the future. Gaia Fugazza’s research functions on an empathic layer that gives access to knowledge according to languages and meanings between common reality and the reality experienced during altered states of consciousness. Fugazza’s practice is an invitation to trust perceptions through our own presence, with our own body and at this particular moment.

Artist’s Bio

Gaia Fugazza completed an MA Fine Art at Chelsea College of Arts in 2014. She had solo and duo exhibitions at Gallleriapiú; Bologna, Haüsler Contemporay; Zurich, Zabludowicz Collection; London, Spazio Cabinet, Milano. Selected group shows include Royal Academy, Lisson Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery, Baltic Triennial 13, Mimosa House; London.