Mario Raciti

I fiori del profondo (The Flowers of the Deep)

Short Review

All the works by Mario Raciti that have the title "The Flowers of the Deep" are inspired by the Greek myth that deals with the myth of Demeter and his daughter Persephone. In Raciti's biography there is the paragraph that tells this myth. The work in question is a round, on the right an oblique line divides the work into two parts, the bottom is dirty white for both parts. On the left side Raciti represents Hades with a black spot at the bottom and always from below the stems that carry the purple and black flowers on top. A light brown stain represents the maturation of some type of cereal, since Demeter is the goddess of the corn and fertility of the earth. Beyond the oblique line of demarcation the colors of the flowers and that of the stain fade on the dirty white background. The motivation that Raciti gives of this passage is to investigate beyond the symbols that describe this cycle of works, but it could also be a moment of fatigue, of a drop in tension probably due to the fact that for the artist the round shape of the canvas is a rarity if not a uniqueness and therefore from this can arise a certain difficulty of giving balance to the composition. The demarcation line is therefore a trick to mask this compositional difficulty.

Tags: Mario Raciti - Raciti - Demeter - Persephone - the flowers of the deep