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Artworks
Irene Cattaneo
Poison lumineux / Radiant Poison, 2025OnyxH. 194 cm
Flower: 69ø cm
Base: 46ø cmCopyright The ArtistFurther images
“la Lune remplissait toute la chambre, comme une atmosphère phosphorique, comme un poison lumineux” “the Moon filled the whole room like a phosphorescent vapor, like a radiant poison' Magnolias are...“la Lune remplissait toute la chambre, comme une atmosphère phosphorique, comme un poison lumineux”
“the Moon filled the whole room like a phosphorescent vapor, like a radiant poison"
Magnolias are often associated with purity, particularly when they are white, and symbolize dignity and nobility in many cultures. Associations with the flower’s scent, however, are another matter - evoking feelings of love, danger and lust. A contradiction, then, and this lighting sculpture captures it: ethereal yet made of stone, fragile but strong, striking a balance between the beautiful and the sublime. The work extends a concept central to Art Nouveau: the transformation of apparently rigid materials into pliant form. Carved from solid onyx, the flower seems to have sprouted from the floor, stretching itself up, up, into the moonlight