Lotophagie (Ciclo)

The work donated by Caccioni to the Hospice is particularly significant: it belongs to the cycle The Lotus Eaters, and so far is composed of more than 160 pieces. The works are inspired by the episode describing the Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey, a people who lived on the fruit of lotus plants that provoked loss of memory. This series of works is painted on an unusual base: large theatrical opera backdrops in canvas and paper that the artist has collected for years. This is a material that is already charged with memories, sounds, voices, and gestures; Caccioni uses oil paints (and often pure poppy seed oil) over the old paper, working so that it spreads “naturally” creating a dialogue with the underlying colours which blend and disappear. The resulting images are hypnotic, memories that are blurred in the mists of the mind: flowers, monkeys, formless figures or symbols... images like those in the minds of Homer's Lotus Eaters.