Art Critiscism
LORENZO CANOVA
From the catalog "THE TIME OF CREATION"
Galleria Vittoria, Via Margutta Rome, April 4-18, 2025
A complex and elaborate weaving of color, a chromatic interplay crafted with finesse and mastery, abstract panels that, in their richness, evoke distant epochs and continents, both in space and time: on these foundations, the work of Milena Scarcella develops, almost like a contemporary alchemist moving through an intricate and skillful process of material metamorphosis.
Scarcella conceives her works with an open perspective on contamination, blending skills and expressive forms into a synthesis that unites design and painting, architecture and mosaics. The artist moves from creating jewelry, which she crafts herself with skill and creative joy, to the mosaic works in this exhibition—true paintings that come to life through a strict methodology that combines the finesse and skill of the hand with the rigor of design.
Scarcella thus rediscovers the aniconic inspiration of an ancient history of decoration that could span from East to West, from the mosaics of mosques to Byzantine ones, from Ancient Egypt to Viennese Secession, from Japanese and Indian ornaments to an explicit dialogue with the teachings of Gustav Klimt and the geometric lightness of Paul Klee. Scarcella combines the geometry of form with the poetry of chromatic vibrations; she distills the precious materials of each tile through a refined process of transmutation, where the elements are sublimated to form the pulsating structures of her works.
In this sense, it is fascinating to discover how the artist, in a text where she declares her love for Gustav Klimt, defines herself as "a passionate creative who immerses herself in the universe of matter to bring unique and enchanting works to life. Through the wise use of colors, shapes, and materials—both humble and precious like gold and platinum—I seek to capture the essence of Art and transmit an emotion that goes beyond words. Each tile tells a unique and captivating story, celebrating the beauty of nature and creativity without boundaries."
The artist also writes about how, in the infinite precision of her constructive action, time seems to slow down, allowing space for the art of creation. These words are important to better understand Scarcella’s works, which, in the slowed-down time of creation, represent a true passionate search for essence, starting from polymer clay to compose thousands of tiles and micro-tiles, handcrafted and then enriched with color, gold, and platinum. The process, like in an ancient goldsmith's workshop, concludes with the fire of baking, reaching a final solidity enriched with splendor and chromatic pulsations.
The author thus excludes seriality and focuses on the uniqueness of each individual tile, in the desire to enter into a mysterious contact with nature, which is evoked, cited, and paraphrased in every fragment. The charm of these mosaics, then, lies in the stories hidden in their tiles—hundreds of stories that come together to form the broader narrative of the various paintings. The exhibition thus presents two cycles of works: The Dialogues of the Sea and Fragments of the Earth, where naturalistic suggestions are transfigured by a meticulous embroidery of signs, ornaments, and chromatic inserts.
Scarcella therefore gives a lyrical presence to all her tiles, and her Dialogues of the Sea effectively make us imagine the poetry of the currents that embrace the story of the tides, the endless flow and breath of the ocean and the earth, the melodies of the waves and dunes, the mysterious symmetries traced by reflections and chiaroscuro on the water. This fantastic journey is ideally concluded with the encounter and union of elements that come together on the shore of platinum sands, in the fascination of the fragments that form the tale and symphony of stone and light, in the enigmas and secrets of the earth, which, in the hands of Milena Scarcella, reach the magical harmony of her enchanted alchemies, between the absolute lights of blue and the regal gleams of gold.
