Exhibition at 1x1 Art Gallery in Dubai, Inagurated by H. H. SHEIKH Zayed bin Sultan bin KHalifa Al Nahyan ‘Weaving Gaps’ by Cristiana de Marchi

Photo above: Cristiana de Marchi / Identity, 2011, Embroidery on passport covers, 19x14 cm each (approx) / Courtesy of 1x1 Art Gallery

Cristiana de Marchi (born in Italy, lives and works in Beirut and Dubai) explores, through performance, video, and installations of embroidered objects and tapestries, issues related to verbalization and translation, to the correspondence between physical and nominal dimensions. Some of her themes are the use of languages in propaganda, the transition between ‘territories’ and contexts, the redefinition of memory and identity.

Cristiana de Marchi / Doing & Undoing. The Nation (Arabic), 2013, 5 channel video, Edition of 3 + AP, 4 mins 38 secs / Courtesy of 1x1 Art Gallery

"The use of words is regulated by the contradictory and conventional reference to a set system of cultural (in the wider sense) rules. Communication somehow eludes these rules. The use of body and the combination of both verbal and non-verbal languages is a main focus of my research. The simple fact of naming objects, of juxtaposing the noun and the material object symbolised by the noun opens to a wider horizon of possible meanings, alluding to further dimensions thus paradoxically enhancing the potentialities of language as if the physical dimension could deepen the linguistic one and could create meaningful mental associations."

Cristiana de Marchi / Untitled, 2011-2013, Stickers on wood (set of 84), 2x4.1 cm each / Courtesy of 1x1 Art Gallery

A writer and a poet, Cristiana de Marchi shows through her work a deep attention to the power and influence of words, to the role of narratives, to the possibilities of words associations, to meaningful breaks, embracing the very idea that storytelling ultimately needs a gap to originate from.

"My work is minimalistic in its essence. During the past few years I have bee intensively working on embroideries using a variety of objects and materials easily accessible and which we deal with on a daily basis: kitchen tools, light home furnishing, aliments… I develop this same interest in performances and videos, which constitute the other direction of my research, investigating the line between phrasing and acting, between the aura recognized to the first one and the obviousness, the self-evidence of the latter. As a further field of interest during these last few years I work on the language and the messages of propaganda, once again falling into and even epitomizing this controversial territory of language, supported by a clear manipulative purpose," says de Marchi.

Cristiana de Marchi / Water is Gold I, 2012, Embroidery on canvas, 50x80 cm / Courtesy of 1x1 Art Gallery

The exhibition will run until December 31, 2013.