Eva Zornio's 'Spellate' Explores Anatomical Gaze and Female Body

Eva Zornio's practice investigates the visibility of the body and affect, moving from pseudo-scientific institutional critique to a material exploration of perception through glass. Her latest project, 'Spellate (She, skinned)', developed during a fellowship at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma (2025–2026), examines the history of anatomy and representations of the female body between the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Zornio draws on Katharine Park's research to highlight how the female body served as both object of dissection and symbolic matrix in the birth of academic anatomy. The work features glass, wax, textiles, and reflective surfaces, creating a suspended scene that destabilizes visibility rather than revealing truth. Zornio, who studied biology and neuroscience before turning to visual arts, uses multidisciplinary approaches including performance, installation, video, sculpture, sound, and text. Her earlier works include 'Reception Space' (2019, Fondation Ricard, Paris), 'The Aesthetic Emotions Scale' (2020, Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève), 'Life Lives in Gaps' (2021, EAC – Les Halles), 'Who are you performing today?' (2023, Löwenbräukunst, Zurich), 'Pleure-moi une rivière' (2022, Soul2Soul/RU, Geneva), 'Redevenir poisson' (2023, Espace 3353, Geneva), and the 'Soma' cycle (2024–2025). The article is part of the 'Close Up' column, a collaboration between Flash Art Italia and Istituto Svizzero.