What I touch 2018

Editor: So, this is "What I touch" by Rodrigo Franzao, created in 2018 using mixed media and acrylic paint. The first thing that strikes me is the intense contrast – a fiery red background sharply divided by this tangled mass of black. It’s quite raw, wouldn’t you say? What symbols do you recognize here, or is it purely emotional? Curator: That rawness, as you call it, is indeed compelling. Let's delve into that division you mentioned. What does that stark separation – between the pulsating red and that web of darkness – evoke for you personally? Think about touch, the sense mentioned in the title. Editor: I think about the act of obscuring. Covering something up? Almost like censorship, but maybe self-imposed. The red, to me, is something visceral, and the black obscures something within that… perhaps emotion, as you suggested. Curator: A powerful reading! The act of obscuring, of touching and concealing, resonates deeply. The red, so evocative of life force, is restrained by this almost primal web. This tension hints at the cultural memory surrounding the act of “touching”. It reminds me how different cultures, or even how the same culture, regards “touching” across different generations and contexts. Are there acceptable and unacceptable forms of touch? What do we learn through it and what dangers are there? How has our collective understanding and interpretation of this primary method of communication evolved over the years? It prompts a critical reflection on what “touch” means both on a personal and societal level, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely, it brings a fresh perspective. The idea of collective understanding adds more layers. I see the emotional constraint much differently now. Curator: Indeed, and it’s precisely through these interwoven interpretations – the personal and the societal, the raw and the refined – that art reveals its enduring power to provoke, to question, and ultimately, to connect.