ECHI (Echoes) is a photographic project depicting the ascent to the top along a waterfall. The path, divided into different sections, embodies ascensional tension as well as progressive emotional relaxation, providing the right balance between the inner and outer world. The observers face the grandeur of the mountain landscape where water is predominant. Through the strength and force of its primigenial nature, this element invites them to reflect on their own role in the universal plan and to reconsider their priorities. The Victorian aesthetics of the images push the viewers to observe the subject not from a purely representative perspective, but from a sensorial and synesthetic point of view, leading them to tune to the frequency of a waterfall and to that roar of water that pierces right through the heart. A natural sound deeply rooted in us since the dawn of time, which eliminates the background noise of our thoughts when listened to over and over again and, like an echo, resounds and instills balance and peace. These images were captured at Aosta Valley and the waterfalls are those of Lillaz within the Gran Paradiso National Park. - Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin I was introduced to Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin while in Italy during Summer of 2022 by L. Mikelle Standbridge, Founder of Casa Regis: Center for Culture and Contemporary Art. At first glance, I interpreted the waterfalls as Linda and Francesco – who share everything in life and work. I imagined them hiking through the National Park and being attracted to the scenery synonymous with their own relationship. Interestingly, it was the most abstract works that I first felt the deepest connection to. It was these grounding compositions amongst the numerous water falls that would make an intriguing exhibition for a Los Angeles audience. You see, after returning stateside, my memory of these became a ritual of cerebral significance. As each work gave me solace within the urban chaos I found at times impossible to bare. City-life can be jarring. Followed by, my memory of the waterfalls, which allowed me to surrender to the natural order of all things. I also refer to the entire group as an exercise in Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the living-body; perception becoming truth. The photographs, which are hand-tinted and waxed, are influenced by 18th century romanticism. Francesco and Linda have revisited these techniques to not only differentiate their visual language in today’s world of photography, but also to return to a sense of refinement. – Victoria Chapman, Curator Archetipo Creativo was founded in 2010 by Francesco Tori and Linda Zambolin, two photographers with a common plan: pursuing their own formal and aesthetic research. In this quest the photographic tool brought back to its origins, is used to depict an artistic philosophy whose vocation is investigating and exploring the inner emotional dimension through the reflection of the external condition. The different cycles composing Archetipo Creativo’s works, which take inspiration from the European Romantic tradition, invite the viewer to wander through natural environments where the realistic and descriptive character of places fades away to let the intrinsic emotional component come to light. Moving from one image - and one emotion - to the other, the observer takes an initiation trip, which inspires a reflection on the emotions that human beings have and have had in common over time. This ‘archetypal’ and primigenial aspect of the emotion as a universal and unchanging element can be achieved through the aesthetic/formal choice of pictorialism. Going back to the origins of photography, we can create poetic images of great immediacy and with a simple composition, able to capture the moment and fix it in the suspended time of dreams. The aesthetic points of reference of Archetipo Creativo are the pioneering works of Fox Talbot, a researcher, and visionary dreamer, one of the first photographers in the 1840s to expose the paper treated with silver nitrate and gallic acid to obtain the first images called ‘calotypes’ (from the Greek word kalòs, meaning beautiful). Together with Talbot, there are the fantastic universes of Michele Kier, Gustave Le Gray, Margaret Cameron, and - later in time - Cesare Schiapparelli, linked to the territory of Biella. To create the same evocative power of the calotypes, Archetipo Creativo launched a process that is similar but at the same time opposed to one of the first pioneers, as it destructures years of technical improvements in terms of sharpness, variable contrast, lens distortion correction metadata, and color intensity, i.e. all the elements that bring pictures nearer and nearer to what the human eye can see. The marked pictorial dimension of the pictures is obtained through an original process mixing technology and manual skills. The image acquired in a digital format undergoes manipulation to check blurring, tonal range, shading, and burning. The photo is then printed on Fine Art paper, toned with a natural pigment to get the warm tone of calotypes, and hot waxed for a better tactile effect, granting the uniqueness of each copy. The strong poetic component of these works - real poems arising from images - is enhanced by the choice of a small format, typical of the period between the mid-1800s and the beginning of the 20th century, which pushes the observer to move close to the work of art to establish an intimate dialogue with the emotional truth it expresses. - Dr. Sarah Sivieri, Ph.D. __ Sonic and Poetic Performance Interdisciplinary artists Stevie Kincheloe and Steven McKellar explore the role intimate Relationship plays in individual growth, refinement, and identity. “Several entities exist in Relationship— those of the individual and one cultivated through the communion of the individuals. Through the cause and effect of experiences, mirroring, the development of the inner world, each of these entities are in a continuous loop of expansion and creation.” Using organic elements and electronic equipment and instrumentation, along with poetry, this accumulative performance piece is manipulated, layered, and looped as each artist responds to their own truth and the truth of the other. The experience coalesces through one amplifier, giving voice to both Individual and Relationship, creating a new identity all its own. “Intimate relationship is something we choose each day, each moment. It is something we are free to hold on to or free to let go of.” Connecting the artists as they move in a circular pattern while they create, is the delicate thread of choice. Each holds in their hand the symbolism of that choice and the power to let go of it. The Relationship becomes integral to the growth of the individual as the growth of the individual renews the relationship. This begs the question, “Who would I be” without this third entity or the Other that acts as the mirror for Self. “Am I becoming more myself or becoming something entirely new?” There is no divide between life and art for interdisciplinary artist, Stevie Kincheloe. Her approach to creativity is more of a philosophy, a way of moving and being in the world. Stevie’s work in music, film, movement, writing, photography, and performance, are each an outpouring of a life lived in the pursuit of uncovering truth. “Each medium that draws me to itself, reveals more of that mysterious truth in the process. Expression is the teacher and I am the ever-growing student.” After filming her feature, ‘Under the Burning Sun’, collaborating with Shane Guffogg in, ‘Translations of Being Through Sight and Sound’, participating in a month-long artist residency in Italy, where she worked on a multi-media performance piece with Soprano and Composer Shooka Afshar, scoring music for multiple films, and not to mention having her follow-up musical release to ‘Petals’ on deck, Stevie certainly embodies the essence of “life is art and art is life.” Stevie’s first solo exhibition will be held at El Nido in Los Angeles in February 2023, offering an intimate look at the dynamic journey of inner growth. Born on the east coast and raised in middle America, Stevie is currently based in Los Angeles. Global pandemics aside, she does not make a habit of staying in one place for long. You will find her exploring the world the same way she explores her inner truth and new mediums, splitting her time between LA, Nashville, Paris, and South Africa, while collecting inspiration and collaborating in whatever land she finds herself. “The main thing is to start digging in and uncovering the truth of who you are. Leave no stone unturned. Most people are scared to do this, but if you want to be an artist or find your purpose, the whole truth is the only thing that’s worth your time. Be brutally honest with yourself and stare everything that scares you in the face…until you can love it.” Steven McKellar is a musician, painter, and poet from Cape Town, South Africa. After a 20-year career in music, touring globally with his band, Civil Twilight, Steven began releasing his first solo records and returned to his roots in painting. As a child, he was trained in realism by his aunt and renowned South African artist, Donna McKellar, before finding community and creative outlet through music and poetry. In September 2022, Steven released, ‘Nama,’ a textural and rhythmic exploration of his South African roots and identity. ‘Nama’ is a follow-up to two earlier musical releases, ‘Ethio,’ and ‘Belleville Demos’— soon to be reissued. After a debut solo show of his early paintings in Nashville, TN, Steven has been refining his process and deepening his relationship to the medium through the exploration of identity. ‘Just Passing Through,’ is his latest series of paintings, sketches, and pastels of everyday objects that are endowed with meaning on his journey of personal growth. He will be showing his work in early 2023 at El NIDO in Los Angeles.