Leni Acosta Knight
On the occasion of this exhibition Leni Acosta Knight proposes three paintings whose theme is directly connected to her personal story. In fact, being a breast cancer survivor the artist brings on the canvas her traumatic experience, using art as expression of her deepest feelings. Perfectly interpreting the concept chosen for this event, according to which we can transform “our weaknesses into our distinguishing mark, converting the demons that make us fall into a dark tunnel in charge of energy” the artist offers a poetic and hopeful interpretation of the body. Part of a unique series titled “Butterfly Women”, especially dedicated to women breast cancer survivors, all three canvases represent a sensual and harmonious female figure. The reference to the cancer is visible in the detail of the blood dripping from the breast. The presence of this element in all three compositions allows to reflect on this significant theme without compromising at all the harmony of the painting and the beauty of the women depicted, who express the true essence of femininity: elegance, freedom and inner balance. The reference to a peaceful state of mind often returns in Leni’s works and here it is symbolized by the women’s closed eyes, the arms raised looking for external but also internal balance and finally by the expressionist rendering of colors. They surround and embrace the depicted woman as in Ascending Into the Future or become a soft surface to indulge in as in Loving and Losing my Past and Bold Steps In the Present, enveloping the female figures in an atmosphere of freedom and spirituality. Leni’s style often combines classical realism of human figures, and abstract expressionism, in these paintings precisely represented by this multicolor luminous trail that give dynamism, energy and harmony to the composition, at the same time recalling the shape of butterfly wings and thus the title of the series. These artworks are an opportunity for Leni to face, to rework and to overcome her trauma, demonstrating that a shocking experience “if well preserved and nourished, is the winning arm in order to face important challenges and, at the same time, the secret to being in harmony with oneself”. I love the fact that the word “humus”–the decayed vegetable matter that feeds the roots of plants–comes from the same word root that gives rise to the word “humility.” It is a blessed etymology. It helps me understand that the humiliating events of life, the events that leave “mud on my face” or that “make my name mud,” may create the fertile soil in which something new can grow. (Parker Palmer)
Art Curator Marta Graziano