"Rather than determining every aspect of the image, Belli establishes the conditions in which light, chemistry and organic matter actively participate in its formation."
At the core of Federica Belli's practice lies an exploration of perception and self-representation. While her earlier photographic works explore the relationship between inner and external perceptions of the self through the language of the self-portrait, the series As Fluid as a Woman expands this enquiry beyond the human body towards other forms of matter. As Belli describes it, she became interested in imagining “not someone else, but rather something else”: the possible perception of the substances and elements that surround and constitute us. Through camera-less photograms, seawater, rain, earth, fire and bodily fluids come into direct contact with photosensitive paper, producing what Belli considers self-portraits of these substances. Rather than representing their appearance, the works record their physical interaction with the photographic surface. The paper becomes both image and participant, receiving the traces left by light, chemistry and organic matter. Her practice does not abandon authorship, but redefines it: the artist becomes a facilitator of material interactions, allowing the materials themselves to actively shape the final image.
Born in Mondovì, Italy, Belli lives and works between Paris and Mexico City.