Margherita Martinelli's vivid, saturated colors brighten her conscious perceptions, and dramatize profound recollections of both physical and mental relaxation within the unique paintings, She evokes a state of tranquility both simple and elegant, with the usage of natural paper textures, cool colors, and earth tones, which unite with the abstract, dotted ink blotches. Dripped over the canvas in a non-conforming way and dried semi-transparent to show the under-paint, the ink drops elicit an abstract expressionist notion, shapes naturally created by gravity that represent pure, unaltered expression.
A sense of nostalgic thought is communicated by perpendicular brushed lines of paint, along with natural dragonfly imagery. These are connective visual elements to the story being reminisced by exhibiting notions of the natural world and by illustrating an existing order with each stroke and insect the same direction. This sort of light orderliness, combined with the free-flowing collection of mediums used within her pieces including; oil paint, bitumen, tar, shellac, colored pencil, and acrylics, represent the pure truth behind Martinelli's thoughts, that of being both a cluttered entity and an orderly entity.
The In Volo pieces contain more subtle textual influences, depicting words from delicate memory, significant symbols and numbers that hold steadfast meanings, characterizing and personalizing the works. Such words as “Tempo”, “Pretty” and “Respiro” in these artworks, recall parts of recognition which create a unique intimacy and an open attachment of the artist to the artworks. Various words written in both black and white, show the variations in thoughts and in language, and tufts of paper imperfectly sewn to the canvas, displaying uneven threaded lines, express a deeply woven connectivity to the orient, which Martinelli studied herself, experimenting with antique techniques of Japanese painting in Tokyo.
In a freely arranged way, in a rightful expression of herself and of her valued memory, Martinelli's pieces have an interesting variety and each part, though united, is separate and different. Building up the pieces together through fragmented symbols, colors, and textures, she influences the usage of negative space, which moreover represents her initiative with a truthful notion of humanity: How over time, as pleasant memories fade, one can recollect the past, but not every detail, leaving the mind as a palette of mixed images. A palette that even though maybe partially blank, has a brightness, a sense of visual and written integrity, a physical and mental tranquility that can experience and respond to its environment.
C. N. Thyson
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