Ecology of Identity 2024

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A solo exhibition presented by Stefania Riccardi.

Starting from Roger Robinson's poem, A Portable Paradise, Stefania explores the theme of displacement.

Her work captures the layered nostalgia for familiar landscapes, and the realisation that the small paradises we carry with us can also be found resonating in the landscape in which we live in the present.

Image: Stefania Riccardi, Present, 2023, mokulito

A Portable Paradise

And if I speak of Paradise,
then I'm speaking of my grandmother
who told me to carry it always
on my person, concealed, so
no one else would know but me.
That way they can't steal it, she'd say.
And if life puts you under pressure,
trace its ridges in your pocket,
smell its piney scent on your handkerchief,
hum its anthem under your breath.
And if your stresses are sustained and daily,
get yourself to an empty room - be it hotel,
hostel or hovel - find a lamp
and empty your paradise onto a desk:
your white sands, green hills and fresh fish.
Shine the lamp on it like the fresh hope
of morning, and keep staring at it till you sleep.

Roger Robinson, A Portable Paradise, 2019

Incinerator Art Space, 2 Small Street, Willoughby, 2068, View Map