Alex Cecchetti's 'Sortilegio' at FOROF in Rome

FOROF in Rome presents 'Sortilegio', a solo exhibition by Alex Cecchetti (born 1977 in Terni). The show is conceived as a shamanic ritual where sculptures, paintings, and installations celebrate nature and invite reconciliation with it. The ground floor features a terrestrial, woodland setting with botanical paintings that Cecchetti calls 'collaborations with other forms of intelligence such as plants, flowers, and seasons'. He uses natural dyeing and impression techniques on cotton canvases, relinquishing control to nature. Also on view are 'Vasi Rivoluzionari', a new series of glazed garden pots inscribed with the artist's poems, placed on carpets of lavender, hops, and hibiscus. The connecting piece between floors is 'Essence', a wooden relief scented with cypress, cedar, and cirmolo, symbolizing trees' slow passage of time. Descending to the hypogeum level, visitors encounter a marine dimension with large illuminated hammocks wrapped in silk organza blankets resembling jellyfish. In the archaeological area of the Basilica Ulpia, two swings are installed, described by the artist as 'like waves that come and go, like day, night, wind, and seasons', accompanied by images and sounds of dives projected on two large screens among the ruins.