INSIDE LIMBUS: CONVERSATIONS AT THE EDGE OF THE VISIBLE

Three artists, three visions, a single gateway between dream, matter and the unconscious. A choral interview that unveils the symbolic and sensory depths of the exhibition Limbus - Soglie Mistiche opened March 28 in Bassano del Grappa.

There is a suspended place, a timeless threshold where what is real blends with what is perceived, dreamed, evoked. Limbus - Soglie Mistiche is this space of passage, where three artists - Giovanna Morando, Veronica Merlo and Michael Cromarty - traverse inner and symbolic worlds, weaving together intimate visions, ritual gestures and transformed matter. In this multi-voice interview, I invite you to explore the beating heart of the exhibition: a fluid narrative that stems from open-ended questions, personal reflections, and poetic fragments. Each answer is a gateway, a key, an invitation to inhabit the limbo of art.

✧ The exhibition can be visited until May 16 at Villa Angaran San Giuseppe, Bassano del Grappa (VI) ✧

From left Michael Cromarty, Francesca Brunello, Giovanna Morando and Veronica Merlo - Ph. Anna Minestra

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What does ‘crossing a threshold’ mean to you? A passage, a transformation, a confrontation with the unknown. Is there a threshold - real or symbolic - that has marked your artistic practice?

GIOVANNA MORANDO: ≪For me, “crossing a threshold” is certainly something internal. It means learning something new, even about ourselves, getting to know ourselves more and more, trying different mental paths, exploring our perception to external things, but also internal things like the experiences we have or the emotions we feel. How many times have I found myself displaced by a feeling that I thought was overpowering me ... “Crossing a threshold” for me means understanding it, accepting it, making it mine, to overcome it and no longer be afraid of it. One threshold in particular that marked my art practice was a few years ago, when I became aware that I could no longer hide, I didn't want to, and indeed, I decided that I would make it my work. This transition was really important for me, especially from the point of view of personal insecurity (which by then had become my comfort zone), because it made me grow up and realize that I am no longer afraid to show myself for who I am... And I think it also shows in my works≫.

MICHAEL CROMARTY: ≪Crossing the threshold for me is an opportunity to enter the unknown future, to explore something new, to face my fears, my anxieties, and to understand who I am as a person. This being my first exhibition, I wanted to use it as an opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone≫.

VERONICA MERLO: ≪The term Threshold is for me parallel to the “Sublime,” a fascinating and at the same time disturbing limit of knowledge. One of the Thresholds that has always and increasingly fascinated me is Death, the ultimate crossing that we all discuss and speculate about, but which will always remain the ultimate mystery of existence. The first important Threshold came for me before I left for Scotland: I knew I would cross it soon and had no idea what would happen on the other side. For the first time I chose a future for myself that I had felt I needed to explore for years: I was leaving everything I knew to become a stranger myself. This Threshold increased and confirmed my passion for printmaking and all that is manual art. The difficulties of the first years with the language and the different culture definitely made me stronger, pushed me to choose the path and the work I wanted for myself, confirming the theory that art is universal communication and-most importantly-that “All the World is a Country”≫.

Your works seem to emerge from an inner space suspended between dream, memory and the unconscious. Where does the imagery you inhabit come from?

GIOVANNA MORANDO: ≪What I represent is extremely personal, but one in which I think many people can find themselves. It is a journey of self-discovery, I analyze my feelings and emotions, in order to ascertain and understand them better. So it comes from what I've been through, states of lightheartedness, nostalgia, sometimes fear, manipulation, but also joy and love. It's a therapy, many times more effective than the psychoanalyst (I'm not ashamed to say that), for me≫.

MICHAEL CROMARTY: ≪I've always had a wild imagination and liked the idea of mixing different genres and styles that usually wouldn't be. Many of my ideas come from old cartoons from the 1940s and vintage cinema≫.

VERONICA MERLO: ≪Venice and its masks have followed me since childhood, along with a deep sense of something to be discovered. Masks conceal faces, faces conceal the depth of a person and the whole emotional universe that comes with it. Like the dreams that have accompanied me ever since and that I have been writing down in notebooks for years, out of curiosity and inspiration. In Salvador Dalí's painting “Persistence of Memory,” I first discovered what ‘painting’ is as a child: I couldn't stop watching those soft clocks melt endlessly. Since then every clue, every story has become seeds for drawings and paintings, and ideas flow very often without effort≫.

In your creative process, is there a moment that you feel is deeply meditative or almost ritualistic?

GIOVANNA MORANDO: ≪Yes, in the morning around 06:30, I have my whole ritual of getting ready before I start work. These are very simple things, but they are important for me to awaken the five senses: contemplating the silence, petting the cats, washing my face and hands with fresh water, making coffee, smelling the aroma coming out of the mocha, looking outside for a few minutes or going to the terrace, breathing deeply... It is these little things that make it possible for me to focus and give vent to my creativity≫.

MICHAEL CROMARTY: ≪I would say that the beginning of the creative process is very chaotic, however, when I get to a drawing that I like, the process becomes more meditative: I can draw and paint for hours and hours≫.

VERONICA MERLO: ≪My favourite ritual is the transposition of marks onto paper without foreseeing what will come out of it. Since I draw a lot for work - and on commission - I sometimes find myself in need for a break from thinking about the designs: sometimes the pressure and the amount of demands stifles the freshness of the ideas. But when I do have some spare time for myself, when I'm traveling or when I'm meditating, ideas often come suddenly and I feel the urgency to transpose them to paper before they disappear again. Very often I close my eyes and draw marks on paper and then draw what I see in them with my eyes open. Or I simply draw with my eyes closed, and then see what shapes come out. The ritual is clear when hours and hours go by without any break, so deeply focused in your work. Transcendental meditation often helps me to clear my mind and - literally - see new ideas that I need to release≫.

Your artworks invite viewers to slow down, to ‘feel’ rather than understand. If your art could open a door to another dimension... where would it lead us?

GIOVANNA MORANDO: ≪Probably it would be a dimension where every emotion is overwhelming, every dream is exciting, every material is special, every color is striking, every sound is powerful... A world where silence is deafening, bitterness is enticing, and sweet is never cloying≫.

MICHAEL CROMARTY: ≪Mine would be a dimension full of wonder and exploration, with unlimited ideas, where color and kindness are fundamental≫.

VERONICA MERLO: ≪Decidedly it would take us floating, suspended around this Galaxy and the infinite others we don't know, among black holes and mysterious other planets. But also within ourselves, lying on a bright and sunny meadow or among the highest clouds. I have always sensed a certain magic in the mathematical rules of this Universe and in the atoms that connect us, and reduce us all to the same matter. Existence is one curiosity after another to be discovered, with its lights and shadows≫.