Flora Yukhnovich: Barcarole

During my time in Venice I planned to study Giambattista Tiepolo’s paintings up close to finally understand the rococo attitude underneath his religious subject matter. Seeing the ceiling of Chiesa Della Pieta (The Coronation of the Virgin (1754)) felt like a significant discovery. Tiepolo painted it in homage to the musical history of the church. Thinking of the fresco in relation to music and rhythm opened up the idea that the character of the rococo, the sense of play, theatricality and exuberance could manifest in the formal aspects of a painting. I made this work with this idea in mind, using different speeds of touch and movement to, in some way, capture a musical feeling and the rich spirit of Venetian rococo.