SIRO CUGUSI: IMMINENCE

“In a canvas, everything is possible. Maybe it’s a way to be free.”

Siro Cugusi revisits the traditional genres of landscape, still-life and portraiture to offer alternative worlds where anything might happen. Nature is transformed, familiar symbols are repurposed and the future emerges as an open path or bright blue sea. Each painting in Siro Cugusi: Imminence is a visual poem, an invitation to embrace imagination and the excitement of what could be.

ALTERNATIVE NATURES

Nature is the protagonist in Siro Cugusi’s paintings, invariably transformed by surprising additions. Lush fields and brightly coloured seas coexist with geometric shapes, tubular structures and everyday objects including ceramics and cloths. Contrasts in perspective and brushwork lend a dream-like quality, while recognisable symbolism and art-historical echoes make the scenes familiar.

Plants and trees in Cugusi’s landscapes recall Henri Rousseau’s jungle paintings or the stylised forms of Tarsila do Amaral, while his ingenious use of perspective draws on Italian Renaissance figures such as Piero della Francesca, along with metaphysical and surrealist art. Subdued evening light creates a sense of timelessness, while the wind rushing through grass suggests dynamism and change.

His rich palette of greens and pale pink skin tones connect to the Renaissance nude, and boldly coloured dots or waves add energy. Various scenes feature a furry red spiral, a symbol of the cycle of life whose shape echoes the intricate spirals in the artworks and buildings of Sardinia’s Nuragic civilisation. “I think the work of art should be complex enough to offer new secrets,” says Cugusi, whose paintings merge diverse elements into an otherworldly whole.

EXPLORATION AND EXPERIENCE

The scale of Cugusi’s paintings makes for a physical experience, the viewer cast as an explorer of unpopulated landscapes. Paths are a recurring feature, suggesting journeys into an alternative reality; in their absence, an open sea or a curtain drawn aside has the same effect. These proposed odysseys reflect Cugusi’s creative process, which involves photographing and returning to his canvasses over long periods of time. “It’s a constant search. It’s about getting lost inside the painting,” he explains.

Cugusi uses voluminous forms together with objects such as tables, vases and plant stands to bring physicality to his landscapes. “I want to feel, not only to see,” explains the artist, who often sculpts in clay before incorporating new elements to his work. “What interests me are the shapes in the paintings. They’re a way to give weight. Colour is secondary to shape.” The flared cone is a recurring feature, appearing in a range of sculptural formats, as a butterfly wing or even a stylised breast. “I’m still wondering what it is about this shape that attracts my attention,” the artist acknowledges, “but these elements already exist in sketches I made as a child.”

Contrast and tension are important for Cugusi, who insists that, “nice, dreamy paintings don’t interest me.” Geometrical features are set against greenery, while visceral pink skin contrasts with structures in metal, marble or stone. Stillness is offset by moving grasses or choppy waves, while broken branches or ceramics suggest violence or unease. “I think my job is to find a good balance between the elements,” summarises the artist, “to break the dreamscape with something disturbing or uncanny.”

IMAGINATION AND POSSIBLE FUTURES

In his Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), André Breton states, “Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be.” Over a hundred years later, Siro Cugusi’s paintings encourage viewers to suspend disbelief, leave logic aside and step into alternative realities. Naïve elements infuse the works with joy, while the artist’s sense of balance and structure instil calm. Cugusi further hints at optimism with the presence of flowering plants, trees and pomegranates, long understood as a symbol of fertility and rebirth: “I always like to include positive elements, even if they’re very small. They’re usually connected to life popping out.”