In Greek mythology, Gaia birthed the universe from nothingness, the seas of Chaos, in much the same way scientists describe the universe as springing forth from a single point of infinite potential and spiraling outward from there.
Likewise, in this and other drawings, Emanuele Dascanio works from a spiral based upon the Golden Ratio flowing out from a central circle, which is deliberately bounded by the square of the canvas, representing Man and Spirit. Across most cultures and from the earliest of times, the circle has been a sign of natural order and perfection, colliding with the canvas’s square. Within this collision lies a vortex of creativity, as Emanuele masterfully demonstrates here.
Emanuele draws upon the great Italian traditions expressed in the Divine Comedy and the burst of vitality in the arts that followed it. Yet, unbounded by religious practices, Emanuele conceives this work’s protagonist as more primal and harmonious. She dances surrounded by an evanescent drapery that, in perpetual motion caused by the wind, produces its choreography.
The spirit dominates the immense space of the work and leads the viewer to life, to light, and to the‘One’ Creator, capturing everything and everyone in a nearly hypnotic spiral vortex. The majesty of His primitive and creative spiritual force is both‘One’ and the richness of the‘Everything,’ which it envelops, overwhelms, seduces, and conquers.
