Béguinage 1918

Enrico Prampolini made this artwork called Béguinage using mixed media on board. I feel like I am peering into the contents of someone's sewing box! There's lace, feathers, and textured weaves, all placed lovingly onto this wooden board. It's not paint but collage and texture, yet, the materials are composed in the same way that you would balance a composition in a painting. I wonder what Prampolini was thinking when he chose these materials, and how he built this arrangement on the board. You can see the shapes emerge through trial, error, and intuition. There's nothing accidental here; the composition is strong, and it speaks to his wider body of work. In a way, all art is collage; all art is made up of the things we see and experience. It feels to me like one big conversation!