Everything begins with drawing. For Elena Salmistraro, drawing is a primordial act, an unstoppable impulse. Drawing is passion, obsession, necessity. A continuous flow, like a workout for the mind and the hand, in which the sign unravels endlessly, filling spaces with density and complexity.

ELENA SALMISTRARO Alchimie nel Vuoto curated by Silvana Annicchiarico In his gallery in Milan, Antonio Colombo presents Alchimie nel Vuoto, the first solo exhibition by the artist and designer Elena Salmistraro, curated by Silvana Annicchiarico. In an original way, Salmistraro chooses to express herself primarily through drawing and painting, shedding light on the most profound and artistic side of her practice, opening doors into a fantastic world inhabited by curious figures. Drawing is an intimate and primordial gesture, and act which becomes therapy for Salmistraro; drawing is passion, obsession, necessity. "My monsters are not evil, they accompany me, talk to me, staying close… By drawing them, I have also understood my stylistic signature, my touch, my alphabet and language.” In this universe inhabited by hybrid and deformed characters, the artist comes to grips with her fears and those of the world, creating an imaginary where the horror vacui – fear of the void – is exorcised through a continuous flow of signs and colors. The concept of the monstrum – seen as a wonder that fascinates and disturbs – becomes central in Salmistraro’s poetics. Her monsters and her freaks, which she has drawn since childhood, are bodies on the borderline between human and animal, but also between figuration and abstraction. They invite us to explore the hidden side of our being, to look beyond the surface. The title Alchimie nel Vuoto (Alchemy in Emptiness) suggests a dichotomy that crosses all of Salmistraro’s work. In fact, in her creations every space is filled, and the physical void is transformed into a place of reflection and metamorphosis. Her aesthetic draws on neo-primitivism, surrealism and magical realism, dissolving the boundaries between the play and dreams. If the gallery is a clean space, a bare enclosure with white, aseptic walls, the void will play host to monsters, freaks, nightmares and fears – perhaps overcome, symbols of change and integration, manifestos of a new concept of beauty. Besides the large paintings on canvas, the show includes a carpet produced by TaiPing, two totems and three vases made by Bosa Ceramiche, painted by hand by the artist, and a wooden sculpture made by Scapin, all results of personal and artistic reflections developed over the course of years of work.