There are those rare beings that come to this life with a predetermined message.
Ester Grossi’s reputation preceded her by many months, as I was informed of her work long before our meeting. All that I had heard was confirmed.
In her bio, she states that her ‘artistic language, which at the beginning was predominantly figurative and originated from a neo-pop inspiration, has become increasingly essential and evocative, reaching a highly stylistic balance that waivers between memory of figuration and analytical abstraction’.
The images that evoke Ester’s identification are those created by linear patterns, delineating the essence of architectural drawings by subliminally implyingthe message. Her use of abstraction brings the viewer into her mental scape.
Throughout the past year, we’ve been on a shared mission.
The plans for 160 Imlay Street in Red Hook have had several evolutions. The most recent is the creation of art studios and gallery space for local artists, as well as talented creatives from around the world. Ester’s work will be a prominent focal point as you enter the spaces.
My interest begins with her message –
LW:
How have your Italian roots played a role in your artistic expression, if at all?
EG:
The place where one is born, but also the family context, I believe, greatly influences a person’s cultural and artistic formation. In my case having an archaeologist father who, since I was a child, took me to visit iconic historical sites of Italian culture, surely influenced the way I conceive and construct images. My works, which are chromatically very pop, have a harmony, a classical design, I would say Apollonian. And a very Italian attention to detail. From my mother, an insurance agent, I, instead, inherited the entrepreneurial spirit.
The classical is in the roots, while the contemporary is necessary research.
LW:
Were you influenced by any specific period in art or any specific artist?
EG:
I have a varied background ranging from studies in cinema to fashion, through painting, which allows me to work on multidisciplinary projects, so there are many different artists I love.
The greatest influence on my pictorial work is undoubtedly cinema, which I consider a total art form. I love David Lynch’s cinema very much, and one of the aspects that fascinates me about his work is also his ability to show the two souls of American culture, the light and shadow that characterize it (as a genius artist like Andy Warhol was also able to do). Then, clearly, I have a predilection for artists who work on the research of light, from Mark Rothko to James Turrell. Music, on the other hand, accompanies me a lot in the creative process; I listen to a lot in the studio. Minimal music, for example, I feel is very akin to my pictorial work, especially the music of Philip Glass. The love for music has often led me to collaborate with musicians for the creation of album artwork, among the latest being the one for the Finnish musician Lau Nau and the Norwegian musician Kristin Bolstad, who composed the music for James Turrell’s Hardanger Skyspace in Oystese. Then there are fashion and architecture; concerning the former, I am interested in its adherence to the present, and concerning the latter, the study of forms and tension.
LW:
Did the landscape of your early years in Abruzzoinfluence your artistry?
EG:
I believe so; the Abruzzo landscape where I grew up is flat and mountainous. Perhaps it influenced me with a pronounced sense of contrast. In my painting, this is evident in the chromatic contrast and the geometric play of the design.
LW:
When did you first realize your calling? (at what stage in life, either through school/ family)
EG:
Since I was a child, I loved art education at school. Later, when it was time to choose the educational path to follow, I had no doubts about choosing art school, an experimental course in fashion during which, however, I learned all the artistic techniques.
LW:
Do the choice of colors used in your line art symbolize a meaning?
EG:
The choice of colors in my case is totally instinctive, unlike the design, where I am much more rational. I believe that traveling and experiencing residencies abroad helps a lot in the experimentation process. For example, in the winter of 2017/2018, I came to NYC for an artistic residency. I started with the idea of studying the industrial architecture of Red Hook, a place I find particularly fascinating. I don’t know why, but during that period, I decided to start working on the back of the cotton canvas with fluorescent paint. The effect I obtained by reproducing the port architecture of Red Hook—the stark contrast between the raw texture of the canvas and the minimal lines of the fluorescent design—is very interesting. It allows the architecture to emerge, to reverberate, almost like a memory from the past. Like the Red Hook neighborhood, in fact. This is the work that put me in touch, in a completely absurd way (as often happens in my life), with the architect Aldo Andreoli, with whom I am collaborating, who is also connected to Red Hook through work.
In 2022, I was in residence in Norway to study the UNESCO industrial town of Rjukan. The impression and the pictorial rendering were totally different compared to the American experience.
LW:
Does the politics of Italy subliminally inform your work.
EG:
Explicitly political artistic work has never interested me because I find it too tied to the contingent. What interests me about art is the creation of mystery.
I believe it is political to do your job well, whatever it may be.
LW:
Do you have a message you’d like to instill through your work?
EG:
I am not interested in communicating messages; I would clearly be pleased if the passion behind the artistic work were perceived. Whichis the leverage for everything.
LW:
What would you like your legacy to represent?
EG:
I am still too young and alive to answer ; )
Thanks Laura!
