DISRUPTED Artist Feature: Rosanna Gaddoni

DISRUPTED: An online exhibition in collaboration with WO Foundation exploring aspects of disruption and interference in our everyday life. From social and political unrest, technological innovation, to psychological trauma, we have experienced a disturbance in the way we experience life. Disruptions come when we less expect them and often have a way of awakening new ways of looking at the world. WO Foundation artists were invited to interpret the idea of disruption in their own context and submit to this exhibition artworks that explore this concept.

Art Nxt Level wants to feature some of the talented artists that created meaningful and timely work for this show. Rosanna Gaddoni shares how the pandemic has effected her life in many ways and what her piece, "Trapped", represents to her. 

Can you speak a bit about your experience as a female artist?

Rosanna: I decided to embrace a commitment in art as an adult and after a corporate career, and I have seen in my life women and men from any social background grow in every field. Taking into account that we cannot control everything around us, I think the same chances of growth are in art. Now thanks to technology everybody has great opportunities, and women can benefit a lot of this moment in history. I am happy to bring my contribution in the Art world as a human being first and as a woman with my baggage of memory and life experience.

In context of the show, how would you describe disruption in the pandemic?

Rosanna: I could not find a better word as disruption when thinking of how the pandemic impacted in everybody's life. Suddenly there were many things that we could not do, and others that became very important, there was a massive process of adaptation. We all had to start to think about how to overcome the practical obstacles that we faced on a daily basis in this change. There is a before and after the pandemic, and I think we are still absorbing the whole effect: the life we were living has been disrupted, and a new kind of lifestyle is still taking shape.

What role has art played in your life during the disruption of the pandemic?

Rosanna: In these two years we had to reduce social contacts and so I have been developing my art more than ever. I had more time to spend with myself and to confront myself as well and what I was doing. I spent a lot of time in my studio, which was my safe place and kept myself focused on becoming a better artist. I could funnel my frustration about what was happening in the world into a creative process, I know this has been a privilege that not everybody could have.

Trapped contrasts from your regular portrait and landscape work. What inspired the subject and movement you created in this particular piece?

Rosanna: I usually try to find a sense of harmony and life in my works and Trapped represents the moment of disruption in this research, it is a disruptive work and that's why it is so different from the others. I toned the paper, and I drew my own arms, the right arm is blocking the left one, on a blue background, the shadow of my arms and hands disappears beyond the border of the paper. This is a trap feeling that comes from within, and therefore it is the most difficult to fight.

I immediately connected the theme of the show to the pandemic, and I could easily get in touch to the feelings that I experienced in the last two years to create it. I am Italian and even if I have been living in the Netherlands for quite some time, I followed with great participation what was happening in my homeland where the pandemic hit first and very badly. Somebody very dear to me died in that period and even the mourning had rules to follow, we could not hug each other to give comfort to the beloved ones, there was a sense of continuous constriction. I was also trapped in my anxiety, my life habits were disrupted abruptly and so the perception I had of the world, and it became more and more difficult to escape the negative feelings. I felt like the bird that does not flee the cage even if it's open, because it fears the unknown.

This is 'Trapped', a memory of these difficult times and a teaching: despite what is the nature of the events around us, there is no bigger trap than the one that we create ourselves.

To see more of Rosanna's work, follow the links below: 

 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosannagaddoni/

Website: https://gaddonifineart.com/