Inspirations

My artwork begins during the eighties with my meditated studies on the art of the 19th century, above all on the Pre-Raphelists and Symbolists artists such as D.G.Rossetti, Sir E.Burne-Jones, G.Moreau, O.Redon for mentioning only a few names, but without forgetting the others contemporary artists and movements, then concentrates on Aubrey Beardsley’s art work and his innumerable and capable followers like H.Clarke, Alastair, B.Egan. Also Radcliffe’s and Lewis’ gothic novels of the late 18th century, Oscar Wilde’s writings, the poems of Baudelaire, Swinburne, Verlaine and Rimbaud have had great influence on all my training, but the Celtic Theme becomes the most important subject of my etchings after many travels through Brittany, where I discovered all the fascinating legends on that misterious and charming land.

The etching technique suits perfectly the irremissible exigence of absolute bidimensionality, of evocative spaces and pure sharp outlines to reach a complete abstraction, to have a sort of “frozen-figure” existing only in a parallel universe, the AUTRE reality, still, beautiful and ambiguous, like in the celtic afterlife (the Sidhe), or in the fairy and vaguely perverse world of Beardsley’s novel “Venus and Tannahauser”.

Since 2003 my etchings are not anymore inspired by celtic mythology, they grow freely without a specific literary reference, thou keeping their gothic peculiarity and increasing their obscure and decadent attributions.

Sonia De Franceschi.