La creatividad que pasea entre el arte y la vida

The originality of the work of many women artists, above all since the seventies, consists, onwards, in my opinion, of the interlacing of the energy of creation with that of relationships, in creating a space in which to keep these energies in tension. In this way, making art means to
put oneself into play with the reality of life, making room for the other by initiating off vital processes that allow both, males and females, to confront their own creative principle. The example that I offer is that of my artistic practice, a kind of work in progress that I call Progetto Clotilde. Through this work I managed to overcome the anxiety and suffering (defences) that the old age and fragility of my mother were causing me, her approaching death, and to do so by focussing on the life giving gestures that she continued to make even in the moments of deep depression, gestures that took me back to her great passion for poetry and narrative. Drawing on on this shared passion, I tried to involve my mother in my creative process, no longer separating the work of caring from my artistic practice, transforming this complex and painful relationship into an opportunity for reflection upon myself and on life, of reconstruction of the relationship with my mother and of our relationship with my sister, with my brother and with the women who were helping her. Throughout this journey, I took much energy from my relationships of political friendship with women and from the work of women artists. In my present work, made of images and of words, I am treasuring everything I have learned from my mother’s old age.