Piera Benetti. Muddy puddles. An Artist’s Impression of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest

Twenty oil paintings. Painted one after the other, until there was nothing left to say. No single one has a title of its own – just a number. No painting speaks for itself but each draws meaning from the story of which it is part.
Their base too is varied: waxed paper, loose canvas, tissue paper, aluminium foil. The artist has chosen simple materials, or materials that have undergone only a simple treatment – simple objects that invite a truthful and fulfilling narrative.
For as the story of The Tempestunfolds, the plot becomes more complex, more multi-facetted: so the painter’s narrative at times progresses speedily, at times it halts and hovers. Something, as unexpected as a detail reflected in a muddy puddle, interrupts our thoughts and forces our mind back to the real objects, that are so complex and rich that one can only imagine them obliquely, in the distracted glance of an eye – beyond any frame that brings rigid order and closure and so once more reduces our powers of observation.
Being conscious that we live in a fractious world goes hand in hand with opting for humility: getting close to things, letting them speak, without immediately wanting to explain everything. That is the wisdom of Prospero: everything that he has seen and known will accompany him on his return. Cushioning him and giving him depth. 

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