Art Intention
INTENTION
Italo/American multimedia artist Silvana Tei Kenney, ascribes to the philosophy that accepts the limitations of human nature and the existence of a greater power, a center from which all truth derives: namely God. Identifying also with the belief that we know more than we can explain, and that intuition is part of the great mysteries of life, she relies on her intuition to create. In the words of philosopher Michael Polanyi, “Our knowledge is rooted in 'tacit knowing', and when we create, we are finding what is already there.” The longing for understanding the working of Spirit that governs the artist's life, is at the center of her work. Art then is an exercise in obedience to a greater calling; it is a search, as if in prayer, for meaning and purpose. What is of interest and focus is an investigation of what is divine, and how it translates in human relationships. It is in this relationship with the invisible and inexplicable that permits an expression of the self, finding sacred spaces where one can be in touch with creativity. In a spirit of constant personal emotional and spiritual renewal the artist meditates on the essence of life, and creates. Below are larger works that Silvana has exhibited in recent years.
It is during long periods of quiet and waiting that a spark for a new work is perceived, felt, and found.
Such is “Sacred Spaces”, an installation created in 1999 for her BA show. In the first room stood a table with a celebratory communion loaf of bread and a glass of wine, that was daily changed with new wine. In the same room an 'altar' of rocks was built, symbolizing a commemorative time of encounter with God, an old Jewish tradition. In a second room a large installation of gravel and rocks, occupying a space of nine by twenty seven feet, displayed body casts with scriptural inscribed verses, holding water. At the source or this desert like stream, raised above rocks, laid a large copper sculpture symbolizing the divine outpouring of grace.
In 2002, “Ruach”, an installation created for the atrium of the Addie J. Klotz Student Health Center of the California State University in Northridge, California, was composed of four panels, an embroidered fabric swing, and a transparent fabric ceiling scattered with floss silk seeds, all suspended twenty two feet above the ground. The panel were silkscreened with the verses from the poem “The Girl on the Swing”, by Korean poet Chungmi Kim.
In 2006, Silvana was chosen to create a work in the Cappella Medici in Seravezza, (Lucca) Italy. “Quando il Cuore Aspetta” (“When the Heart Waits”). The work presented included a video-performance on one wall, while the two adjacent side walls were lined with a collection of e-mails illustrated in miniature, written over a period of several months between the artist and her cousin Rossella Bianucci, who had lost her only son to cancer the previous winter. A jute prayer cord with one hundred knots was suspended by an invisible fishing line, giving the impression of open skies.
Influenced by the work of Rachel Rosenthal, Silvana spent some time working on performance. “Espresso” and “Fragility” were created during a period of several months, which were performed in diverse venues in Los Angeles and Italy over intervals of several years.
In 2006, the artist created a public participatory installation in the cave of the Masseria La Selva, in Altamura, Puglia, recreating the Jewish Temple, using only objects found in the cave.
“200 Hours”, another participatory installation where the artist hung plastic bags, on trees, filled with water, which represent life. During a period of time of a year, the artist kept records of people who had lost loved ones in their lives and were still in the process of grieving.