Riemergere / Re-emerging, 1983

Clemen Parrocchetti, Riemergere / Re-emerging, 1983; Embroidery, sequins, ink on paper; 25.2 × 18.2 × 3.2 cm

This work belongs to a transitional phase in Clemen Parrocchetti’s decade-spanning artistic practice, one of the many turning points of her practice throughout her life.

The 1980s saw Parrocchetti’s work more frequently including sequins, with Riemergere / Re-emerging having them sewn directly onto the gridded page. This trend within feminist art was later contextualized by the critic Rossana Bossaglia as a symbol of female frivolity, as well as directly reflecting the fashion of the 1980s.

At this moment, Parrocchetti’s subjects also reflected the Postmodernist trend of adapting Classical mythology in art, literature, and architecture. Writing directly on the paper with ink, Parrocchetti retold an ancient myth from a female point of view. While text and writing often appeared in her mixed media artworks, this work in particular highlights the poetics of her writing – referencing the suffering endured by Eurydice to speak about the pains felt. In August of the same year, Parrocchetti suffered from a near-fatal car accident which hospitalized her for ten days – appearing in the text through the sorrow Eurydice felt while she was in the inferno and the experience of resurrecting.