Untitled, 1981

Clemen Parrocchetti, Untitled, 1981; Embroidery, sequin, tulle on paper; 42 × 27 × 5.2 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, which were later contextualized by the critic Rossana Bossaglia as a symbol of female frivolity, as well as directly reflecting the fashion of the 1980s. Within its configuration, the work sticks to her well-established visual grammar of using textiles and other artisan materials to represent segments of the female body. Lips and vulvas in particular appear often, as alluded to in Untitled (1981), becoming a symbol for the unleashing of women’s protest in the face of oppression.