Belly of the Fish by Valentina Bartolini
LA DÉRIVE: ON SHOW. A studio visit of Valentina Bartolini's new show: Belly of the Fish
Athens-based visual artist Valentina Bartolini develops a body of work shaped by proto-surrealist sensibilities, where intuition, memory, and interior landscapes converge.
Through drawings that drift away from the external world toward the unconscious, Bartolini allows forms to emerge slowly, guided by attentive observation and a process rooted in introspection.
On the occasion of the exhibition, the artist also welcomed LA DÉRIVE for a studio visit, photographed through the lens of @nicktsiro
Her solo show entitled BELLY OF THE FISH conceives the belly as an enclosed, transformative space. Presented at CALLIRRHOË GALLERY until 21 March, the show alludes to spiritual imagery of the inner world, such as the belly of the whale in the story of Jonah.
Recurring motifs such as mirrors and biomorphic figures evoke the sea, the womb, and other spaces of transformation, where bodies dissolve into fluid, interspecies forms.
Central to her practice is the use of handmade Nepalese Lamali paper, crafted from Kozo bamboo and Lokta fibers, traditionally employed in calligraphy.
Working meticulously with colored pencils and stencils, she constructs her images through constellations of tiny dots, allowing enigmatic creatures and crystalline fragments to emerge from the surface itself.
In this delicate interplay between materiality and imagination, Bartolini’s work becomes a meditation on memory, metamorphosis, and the fragile thresholds between the visible and the imagined.
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CULTURE IN MOTION
with @bartolini_valentina_
@callirrhoe_
@nicktsiro