Silvia Infranco's Medicinal Plant and Wax Works Invade Marignana Arte in Venice

Silvia Infranco (Belluno, 1982) presents 'Viridis' at Marignana Arte in Venice's Dorsoduro district, featuring sculptures and paintings made with medicinal plants and wax. The multidisciplinary artist draws on writings by 12th-century Benedictine nun Hildegard von Bingen and references philosopher Silvia Federici's 'Caliban and the Witch' to address the historical rupture between natural and modern medicine, linked to the witch hunts and the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Infranco's works incorporate plants like linden, St. John's wort, mint, and sage, which according to medieval herbals and folk traditions possess healing powers. The exhibition includes series such as 'Mortarium' (sculptural mortars combining plants and wax), 'Remedia' (inspired by Hildegard von Bingen and Dioscorides Pedanius for medicinal compounds), and 'Precationes' (nebulous surfaces of herbs, paper, pigments, oxides, and wax with recipe words). Curator Marina Dacci, along with Erika Maderna and Veronica Maschi, contributed texts linking the works to ancient Greek and Egyptian contexts. In a second nearby space, paintings by Laura Omacini (Venice, 1991) depict Venetian architecture obscured by scaffolding, exploring tension between reality and observer. The exhibition is on view at Marignana Arte in Venice.