Francesca Catastini: "Imagination is one of the key words to talk about my relationship with photography"

Can you explain us a little bit about your inspirations? What are the main themes in your practice?

What really interests me within my research is building bridges and looking for different layers of analogies. My work mainly aims at transcending the idea of separation and often combines images with images, text, or other objects.

One of my main sources of inspiration is the construction of human knowledge, the way we perceive and our attempts to grasp things.

How do you see your relationship with photography? How do you deal with this medium to express your art?

I guess imagination is one of the key words to talk about my relationship with this medium. Imagination here is not referred to the idea of producing images coming from dreams. It is more about the relationship between what we see and what we visualise. I am pretty sure I have no monopoly at all on the images I make. The meaning I see in them is a possibility. I am equally interested in the role of the viewer, who is free to interpret and see what suits him best.

Can you tell us a bit more projects that you have been working with?

Petrus, my latest work, which has recently been published by Kehrer Verlag, reflects on a certain rhetoric of masculinity in Western culture. It is about the human drive to define ourselves and the world through a definite form. Form is never stable though. It plays with archetypes and images, considering the way they sculpt ourselves and shape our views.

My previous work, ‘The Modern Spirit Is Vivisective’, ventures into the history of the study of anatomy, taking anatomical theatres as its starting point. Delving into architecture, both of the body and of the scene of inquiry, this project is a reflection on the role of vision in the graph of power and knowledge in Western culture.

How has been the experience of being a talent selected for Futures? How can Futures help with your career?

Taking part in Futures programme is quite an enriching experience. It gives me the chance to meet curators and other authors, to get to know their practices and to share mine with them.

Can you share with us a little bit about your plans for the future after being part of the platform? Do you have any new project in mind?

At the moment and in the near future I would like to keep working on Petrus, on its themes, reflections and potential. I especially intend to continue to experiment with it and its possible forms through installations and performances.