Silva’s installations and site-specific interventions engage with the emotional consonances that are part of pre-rational experience that present themselves, refusing to conform to defined anthropological and cultural symbols.
A sense of revelation that stems from the contact of the work with the viewer’s body substitutes the traditional contemplative and aesthetic experience of the ‘artwork’. The artist’s choice of unusual materials such as light, electric power or mercury provokes this shift towards the physical.
Upon entering Silva’s installations, as there is no discernible source, the status of an apparently empty space is undermined when it begins to pulse with light or fills with warm steam. A heightened sense of presence in the viewer is elicited by these subtle interventions.
For UNION, Silva presents three installations including Non Far Finta di Niente (Don’t pretend not to notice) comprising a series of elements, installed and hidden in the exhibition area: a light breeze of cold air, a heating system and a fine rain that falls on the floor generating a delicate vapour. The fulcrum of the work is a source of warm air that is calibrated to body temperature and the familiar warmth embraces the visitor.
Basta un Soffio (One breath is enough) is a series of wall mounted glass sculptures produced by the renowned Venetian glass making factory, Murano. Each oval shaped sculpture is made with a single exhalation, creating an airtight container for the actual breath.
Following on from the single light installation To touch an illusion by hand, which was first exhibited in 2000, Silva presents a multi-light installation that flashes intermittently, creating an emotional charge to the space.
Roberta Silva lives and works in Milan and Lake Garda.
Recent exhibitions include Whereveryouare, Galleria Francesca Kaufmann, Milan and Art/ST Now. Jedan podzemni vrt, Dioklecijanovoj Palac, Split curated by Dragica Cakic.