Massimo Colonna’s Artistic Expression of the Ambiguous
Massimo Colonna’s Artistic Expression of the Ambiguous
A Closer Look Into Some of the Digital Artist’s Most Impressive Works
Name:
Massimo Colonna
Project:
Apathy, Migration, Ambiguous
Photography:
Massimo Colonna
Words:
Erica Nichols
Italian Digital Artist Massimo Colonna has mastered an impressive skill most artists can’t: creating a personal surrealism that can attach itself onto its viewers. Though the meanings of his work are often left open for interpretation, Massimo creates work that invites the viewer in instead of keeping them at a distance. It’s a skill that Massimo mastered through his delicate balance of reality and surrealism. “I like to play on the thread of reality and not,” he says. “Sometimes I start from a subject, sometimes from a general environment, then from the shapes and light.” It’s in projects like Apathy, Migration, and Ambiguous that Massimo’s expertise is most evident, where each detail is delicately balanced to draw the viewer’s attention from one place to the next. The results? An overwhelming desire to follow wherever Massimo’s mind takes him.
Apathy: An Exploration of Light and Atypical Compositions
Stemming from his love for the photographic works of Scandiano-born Luigi Ghirri, Massimo’s Apathy immortalizes everyday objects through atypical compositions. In this work, insignificant subjects like plastic chairs and traffic cones are placed in an unusual manner that calls attention while still maintaining a sense of disinterest. The stark contrasts of shadow and light also play a significant role in how the viewer interprets the piece. “Light is fundamental in my creative process, and consequently, shadows,” Massimo says. “They help the viewer to look where I want them to look, and they help fill empty areas, giving life to insignificant spaces.” It’s a push and pull common throughout most of Massimo’s work and encourages the viewer to attach their ideas to the varying aspects of the piece.
The Unconventional Harmony of Migration
Massimo sets his images in distant and unnamed countries, creating an opportunity for the viewers—and himself—to travel while remaining still in place. “It’s like exploring new boundaries, but of my imagination, which is obviously influenced by what I have seen,” he says. Such is the case for Migration, which captures the natural harmony of a flight of birds, then puts a twist on it by experimenting with unique shapes and forms. The results are images aesthetically pleasing, even enchanting, that—upon closer look—establishes a sense of unconventionality.
Ambiguous’s Captivating Movement in Simple Subjects
This series is a captivating result of Massimo’s exploration of ideas and subjects that take on more than one explanation, each outlined in minimal, open-air landscapes. “Unclear is their origin or function, uncertain is their destination,” Massimo explains. “This project conveys a sense of movement because the subjects are broken into two different positions of the composition.” As a result, viewers are free to impose their own ideas on each subject—whether the one sheet is moving or if there are two sheets, if one cat is immortalized at different times.
