“The notion of ‘flow’ is opaque, dense, intense, uncontrol­lable, and even undefinable at times. Its associations, both empirica! and metaphysical – menstrual flow, stream of con­sciousness, etc. – indicate complex processes that take place in secluded areas, within the warmth of bodies and minds. The visible part of a flow is merely the result of a set of pro­foundly intricate phases. There is an inherent element of secrecy in any flow and yet that becomes impossible to uphold once its process starts. ‘Life is a flow’, Heraclitus of Ephesus recited two and a half thousand years ago, whereby ‘flow’, intended as change, is ever-present as a rule – not as an exception – that compels everything we do. Resisting means resisting the very essence of !ife. In imFlusse, Emma Vitti does not put up any resistance. On the contrary, the artist delves into the flow of being, creating waves of images that follow one another naturally and unas­sumingly, like the crest of a river. The images are paintings, drawings, and photographs from different stages of the artist’s career and persona! !ife. They do not follow a predefined thematic or chronological cata­loguing scheme but that of a novel, in which the pages both carry and generate streams of thought.

If observed as a whole, the iconographic bodies display a deconstruction in their meaning. The dissolution, reduction, and subtraction of content give the subjects a new vitality, which causes a change in form and temporality. Each visual element has its own tempora] context but it also brings our attention back to the present moment. The book is simultaneously fleeting and perpetuai, fragile and unbreakable in both structure and content. The mean­ing of the book lies in its entirety as it provides multiple and varied interpretations throughout, ali of which are valid. The whole concept of imFlusse recalls the unique symme­try of the inside of a snail shell or the core of an artichoke – while similar, no two are the same.”

Paola Paleari