Rachele Frison's 'Sorelle Acqua' Expands Painting into Horizontal Space

Rachele Frison discusses her painting 'Sorelle Acqua' as part of ArtsLife's 'Un’opera a settimana' series, where artists reveal the inspiration and process behind a single work. Created for the exhibition 'Mystica Visio. San Francesco, Jacopone e le arti' curated by Massimo Mattioli in Todi, the piece reinterprets the 'Canticle of the Creatures' by addressing water as 'sister,' emphasizing reciprocal belonging among humans, animals, and nature. The painting was executed vertically but intended for horizontal display, challenging traditional spatial dynamics. Frison incorporated a painted and shaped lake to extend the narrative into the exhibition space, creating a physical and symbolic threshold. The female figures draw on Symbolist and Pre-Raphaelite imagery but avoid erotic objectification, instead presenting natural, self-aware bodies. The artist includes self-portraits as active narrators, not muses. The work also engages with the figure of the witch as a symbol of women who heal and understand natural cycles. 'Sorelle Acqua' explores the thinning boundary between human and non-human, proposing a community of creatures based on respect and equality.