Leo 2019

Curator: Before us, we have Camilla d'Errico's mixed-media painting, "Leo," created in 2019. It’s a portrait imbued with surreal and fantastical elements. Editor: My first thought? It's pure daydream fuel! That wide-eyed girl with her regal lion cub feels like a character ripped straight from a fantastical fairy tale, perhaps something from "Alice in Wonderland." There's a lovely balance of softness and strange underlying it all. Curator: Indeed. The juxtaposition of hard and soft is notable, beginning with her skin tones against the mane of swirling curls. D’Errico's choice of color is crucial in establishing mood, particularly in rendering of light, where pastel shades suggest ethereality. The stark crown reinforces the sense of hierarchy. Editor: The girl and the lion's eyes, those heterochromatic emerald and sapphire pools… they pierce right through you, don’t they? It makes you wonder, what secrets are they holding, what stories do they know? I mean, look at the butterflies—tiny whispers flitting around her head, as if thoughts given flight! Curator: Let us not overlook how the textures reinforce these ideas. The fur, both human and feline, shows immaculate, detailed renderings while retaining flatness, adding depth and character to what might otherwise be an unremarkable style, as one would find, say, in pure illustration. It moves between realism and artifice seamlessly. Editor: There's also something endearingly vulnerable about her, clinging to that miniature, monochrome lion like a talisman. The image evokes both protection and fragility simultaneously; perhaps we could be both at once. Curator: And the lion on her lap appears like some inverted counterpart or dark double of herself. That formal positioning could refer to any historical court painting. The artist creates tension in that balance. The effect makes you question the source of the sitter's agency. Editor: You're so right. The darkness that tempers it adds an emotional resonance. The image's real power isn't just the technical virtuosity, but that intangible echo of a hidden world. A world only we might ever hope to visit again soon, within the dreams we craft. Curator: Precisely, where elements converge—structure, medium, subject matter—D’Errico constructs this alluringly symbolic portrait to achieve harmony and provoke thought regarding a hidden sense of duality within fantasy art and classical portraits.