Nera D'Auto -Esplosione di una Stella di Neutroni
Lines, colors and holes as infinite possible realities to scan the universe
Man’s knowledge is superficial and limited because it focuses on matter. Knowledge of creation in its entirety is essential for taking a different path from the one that man is following and that is against nature therefore against production. Through her artistic discourse made of lines that travel, move and don’t stop; made of soft curves that embrace the space; made of colors, each with its own character, and imbued with materials, energy and gold; Nera experiments and tries to understand the mystery of life, its movement and its complexities. Until now her artistic evolution has been characterized by three fundamental moments.
The study of the line.
A line that flows, that crosses things with momentum, tracing figures and states of mind.
The moment of color, based on light, studied as a function of a wavelength and frequency but also as a function of feeling. Newton maintained that the total chromatic spectrum is contained in white light, Goethe thought otherwise, who maintained that color is the result of a dynamic interaction between light and darkness. Nera has achieved the perfect reconciliation between Newton’s spectrum and Goethe’s study of color.
Her strong colors pervade because they are pure and their mixing gives even greater strength to the color.
The phase of the hole.
This phase emerged during the natural evolution of color/mass. The work acted on itself. It was a spontaneous epiphany imbued with magic! A journey between being and not being: The hole.
An experience that the artist describes like this:
N.D.A.: “When the hole showed up, I had the clear sensation of a miracle about the other dimension that appeared through it…The infinity I was looking for was closer and truer than I could imagine. I spoke of the body of the material and its dissolution and it is precisely due to the effect of the latter that the work of construction and evolution of the material, which I interpret, assumes continuity. Always, in order to fade a color and give it a different body, I remove the color with a rag soaked in solvent. This operation, one day, turned out to be too energetic, so as to produce a tear on the canvas, a hole. From this moment on, the hole, a natural consequence of the fading, took on character; a character that originates from the different geometric shapes of an element color. In this way emptiness and fullness, matter and antimatter, being and non-being were born.”
From the works emerges her strong temperament and her constant searching. In her art energy, frequency and vibrations cross infinite possible realities. There is dynamism in her works. Her research into the complexity of being and its becoming is constant and infinite. According to her, each color has its mass, its character and, subsequently, its hole. From here we get to the curved space of the universe, what, as she says, “the heaviness of matter leads to the deflection of light.” The light of color that investigates the experiences of the soul. Nera as a woman is in full harmony with her life, satisfied with what she has faced and resolved. She is happy of the support of her family even when she decided to continue studying, because it is true that knowledge can make man completely free. Her journey towards knowledge began when she met art and is still ongoing. We can grasp its nuances in this interview.
How do you describe the social and environmental context in which you currently find yourself?
N.D.A.: “I live in Roccadaspide, a town whose origins date back to the Etruscan, Greek and medieval civilizations. A reality built on stone where stands a medieval castle wanted by Frederick II after the destruction of Capaccio and built on the remains of a Greek structure. Historical finds take us back to the seventh century, when indigenous people of Etruscan civilization practiced the cult of water; to a medieval castle founded on the remains of Greek walls, while a few kilometers away stands the sacred area of Poseidon, Paestum, which, with the majesty of its temples, takes us back to the origins of our civilization. Living in a reality so steeped in history and illuminated by the Mediterranean sun which, in the late afternoon, brings a breeze full of country scents mixed with moments of magic, those that recall the Eleatic School of Velia, is a completeness that satisfies the interiority. All this natural and wonderful reality does not correspond to the distribution of services and the efficiency that a policy that deals with the well-being of citizens should give us. In fact the services are based on the proliferation of clientelism and on the unequal distribution between north and south. It must be said that wealth in Italy is not distributed equally and here, in the south, people still live as if the unification of Italy were yet to take place, this penalizes all activities but, above all, art which is seen as useless or not important enough. Politics, in the context in which I live, sees art as a trivial thing in which it would absolutely not invest, this penalizes me a lot and leads me to continuous movements that do not have the characteristic of continuity, which is important in artistic contacts.”
Where do you find your inspiration?
N.D.A.: “Perhaps it was the inspiration that found me, in fact I feel I have to clarify some questions that have always occupied my mind: The duality between matter and spirit, the mechanism that regulates our actions, man as part integral part of the universe governed by its own laws, the inner light of the being which is combined with that of the sun.”
Is there something in your works through which you express your personality?
N.D.A.: “All my work is a continuous expression of who I am: the use of primary colors, incisive, pure colors denounce my personality not inclined to compromise. Red, one of the colors I use most frequently, speaks of my strong, decisive, structured, passionate, instinctive, energetic character. Furthermore, the use of a personal vocabulary on the use of color strengthens my research aimed at finding answers to my questions about what man is.”
Art has always been an important part of human society since the beginning of time. Why do you think more money is spent on wars than on art?
N.D.A.: “Man still has no knowledge of his being and tries to acquire power with weapons – Analyzing these two possible forms of behavior of a society or an individual, I think that these are implemented in different moments of life. Wars are born out of greed, political, territorial, economic, defensive interests and lead to the annihilation of both material and spiritual man; art is practiced to bring benefit to the individual being who, by relating to the community, creates widespread well-being, enhancing everyone and improving the community. Having said this, I think that man has not yet managed to overcome the selfishness inherent in matter and still cannot conceive of a society where the well-being of the community is poured into the individual, something that only art can give – Man has not yet integrated into mother nature who benignly knows how to arrange things and thus tries to overturn everything with reasoning – Having money in the world means having power; having art is the same thing as knowing how to be satisfied – It is known that only when art enters the market, governed by lobbies, is it able to produce wealth.”
Do you place emphasis on the materials and on the creation process or on the message that you possibly want to convey?
N.D.A.: “Undoubtedly I know that I am focusing my attention on the message to be transmitted, in this regard every material is adapted to my thinking, every support is suitable for making me reflect on atoms, elements, compositions and formations of matter, empty and full, energy, dark matter and light.”
Do you find it easier to bring the inner light or sunlight to canvas?
N.D.A.: “I have to answer, with no doubt, that there is inner light in my works. Meanwhile, a comparison between impressionism and expressionism immediately springs to mind bearing in mind the use of light by these movements. As far as I’m concerned, I can say that when it came to getting to know color, I found myself faced with Newton’s spectrum but also with Goethe’s study of color. Newton’s spectrum gave me the possibility of combining color in order to relate with frequencies and wavelengths for which the color, in my works, presents itself with material body, length and character, while color is indebted to Goethe which investigates the experiences of the soul and is used to talk about feelings. In fact, this diatribe between Newton and Goethe in my work is reconciled and presents works that speak of interiority with the characteristics of light, knowing that every living form has the same characteristics and shines with its own light.“
Are your works the answers to your questions or do they represent the evolution of searching for them?
N.D.A.: “I search according to the questions I want to answer. The evolution of my work is given by this natural search. In this regard I want to tell how the hole on my canvas was born: I previously spoke of color given as a function of mass, character, which is associated with each color present on the support. This dosage, for the blue, must be given lightly and so I go with rubbing with a solvent, this operation, during an execution, led to the tearing of the canvas and the miracle of the other dimension. I played with the hole and the breath of the work came out through pierced characters that speak to us of music, of vital breath, of the need to find a means of escape for the living of every creature.”
