Sculptural thinking is essential in Amadio's artistic approach. All her works, including her paintings and drawings, are developed out of a deep understanding for spatial relations. The invitation card for our exhibition in Zurich exemplifies the artist's spatial comprehension. The photograph shows a cone form, constructed from dried patches of acrylic and glue. Under the coloured skin the artist is just visible through a bunch of her curly hair which is jutting out over the cone. A coloured cord is attached to the cone. The title of the show "Fire!" interprets the cord as a fuse and points to the interpretation, that the artist represents herself as a firework, a volcano. The artist is, like a shaman, hidden behind the coloured skin. The eruption of the volcano took place in the artist's studio, before the exhibition – the outcome is now visible in the gallery.

Amadio combines painting with sculpture in her exhibition. Three figures called Guards stand prominently in the gallery space. They are made of shrinking foil, formed through the impact of heat and subsequently coated with colour. Their appearance holds an infatuated implicitness. They are amorphous, around 1.80m high. Their chromatic and physical presence accentuates the surrounding space. The three figures elicit the sense of frozen movement and embody, despite being quite heavy, a playful lightness.

Next to the sculptures hang the so-called Paintings Kiss. Although described in the title as Paintings, these images possess a very strong sculptural quality, also due to their method of fabrication. Amadio regards herself not as a painter. Her reference to painting is solely to use the canvas as support for the visualization of a pictorial idea. The starting point for the Paintings Kiss works is the Rorschach inkblot test. Amadio wanted to superimpose a first impression with a second one. According to the artist the second test covers the legibility of the first one: hiding or even protecting it. The number "Two" suggests a kiss – and therefore points to a spatial dimension and an exchange. From the second Rorschach test only the rear side of the colour flush is visible. The merging together of the colour combinations and forms remains hidden and left to the imagination of the public. Amadio has commented that this is probably the smallest spatial work she has ever realized and that this has resulted in working in a series.

The Guards and Paintings Kiss are supplemented by the works Changing Directions. These are small format panel paintings, which contain colour deposits in-between shrinking foil. Because the colour remains liquid the paintings change depending on the position of the image. The images are in a constant flow and change according to the intervention of an active beholder.

Text Etienne Lullin

Photos Gallery Lullin+Ferrari, Zurich