Michela Fabeni Art Gallery – Sapere aude! | Textured Bas-Relief Between Light, Matter, Bare Hands and Palette Knife
- michelafabeni
- Jan 6
- 2 min read
Sapere aude! : palette knife, bare hands, gold and silver leaf.
This bas-relief on canvas entrusts its language to light. Gold and silver are not ornament, but resonance: they activate a sensitive vibration in space, transforming the surface into a perceptual field where form manifests as living energy.
A female figure sits curled inward, her knees drawn to her chest. Her face is hidden, turned toward an inner dimension, as if true knowledge does not seek to be displayed, but crossed. Above her, a luminous spiral emerges like an intuition taking shape, a presence that guides without imposing. In front of her, an open book marks a threshold to ancient wisdom; behind, archaic signs and primordial letters preserve a memory that travels through time.
My artistic research begins before thought. I do not design—I listen. Each bas-relief takes form through a spontaneous gesture, guided by flow, in a continuous dialogue between matter and inner awareness.
I work with bare hands, carving and shaping, alternating cut and caress, smoothing and revealing, allowing the surface to become skin, breath, passage.
The Smussato technique is not a procedure, but an act of trust. Matter reacts, resists, then opens. In this process, light is not a final effect, but a generative force: it enters folds, expands voids, intensifies tensions. It is here that form abandons stillness and begins to vibrate.
Each work undergoes ongoing transformation. Earth, air, fire, and water are not symbols, but active presences participating in the creative process. I witness these metamorphoses with wonder, as something unfolds beyond my control. Matter allows itself to be crossed—and with it, so do I.
Raw white preserves an original silence. Gold emerges as frequency, as sudden ignition, as cosmic memory. No narrative is imposed—only an invitation to feel. Form does not explain: it resonates.
My works of art don't seek the gaze, but perception. They are spaces of passage, places where the invisible becomes tangible and time slows, allowing the observer to inhabit the moment in which knowledge is not yet language, but inner light.
Explore my artistic universe and discover the works at www.michelafabeniart.com
For information, collaborations, or to arrange a private viewing of the artworks, contact me a
Follow my artistic journey across all social platforms
@michelafabeniart
Continue your exploration by reading other articles in the Discovery Blog
Be patient. Let it be.
Michela Fabeni
Artist of the Third Millennium
