Hopeful Dissociation

2020

Back of woman behind plastic sheet, figure moves away from camera. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Back of woman bent over pointing hands behind her. Figure is behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Feet of woman sitting on floor, behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman standing on one foot, stretching her arms in front of her, behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman silhouette behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman standing with open legs stretching backwards, pointing one arm to the sky. Figure is behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Back of woman standing on one foot, behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman standing on one let with hands spread out, behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman balances on one bent leg while stretching arms out, behind plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

Woman kicks plastic sheet. Black and white photo. Part of "Plastic Sheets" photographic collection by Paola Cassola.

PLASTIC SHEETS (2020)

Photographic prints

Holding hands behind wet glass with green nature in background. Part of "After the Rain" series by Paola Cassola.

Hand holding heel of other hand behind wet glass with green nature in background. Part of "After the Rain" series by Paola Cassola.

Hand holding side of other hand behind wet glass with green nature in background. Part of "After the Rain" series by Paola Cassola.

Two hands with fingers spread out behind wet glass with green nature in background. Part of "After the Rain" series by Paola Cassola.

AFTER THE RAIN (2020)

Photographic prints

OF ETERNITY CONSIDERED AS A CLOSED SYSTEM

He will never forget the aimless birds
That ride a white sky’s wind today.
When the brain is darkened an aimless bird
Will circle forever a darker sky.

Whatever is won forever.
Whatever is lost is gained forever.
Forever’ s terms are the sum of the days.
A white sky’s circling bird is forever.

Hyam Plutzik
Poet (1911-1962)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Covid-19 has hit northern Italy harder than almost anywhere else in the world. In a bid to stop the spread of the virus, Italian authorities imposed travel restrictions and put the whole country in lockdown.
Cassola was there when it all started, in March 2020. Having both parents, elder and in critical health conditions, she cared to put her family in safety first and then, being four months pregnant herself, she had to leave everything behind to return to Miami. Her uncle was killed by Covid-19.
From then onwards, she self-quarantined. Not knowing what the world was facing, she lived in isolation all throughout her pregnancy taking all foreseeable preventative measures not to contract the virus.
Anxiety and uncertainty have been overwhelming. The peculiar condition she faced put her deeply in touch with her transforming body and even being disconnected from the real world she felt deeply connected with all women and men that may have been or were experiencing a similar history.
She gave birth in isolation and faced a few emergency issues with the baby sent to ICU, twice.
Now that her baby is born, Cassola is facing motherhood in this newly shaped world that raises lots of questions:
How will I explain that in all pictures people are wearing masks?
How will I tell my baby that nobody, neither family nor friends could meet her when she was little?
How will I send a baby to school knowing all the risks?
Will social behaviors we took for granted, such as hand shaking and hugging, endure?
How will I explain to my baby that the new norms of social distancing and mask-wearing could be required for years?
In her quest for answers she imagines the world as she would like to describe it to her daughter.
Recalling the narrative of The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: Migdal Bavel) in Genesis 11:1–9, a myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages, instead of the tower the artist imagined a series of photos to try to re-define gender identity through her own depictions of the body.
The identities dissolving within the “huis-clos” of the setting and imaginings.
The photos playfully explore the relationship between the imagined and the real within the context of the home.
Dissociation is the action of disconnecting or separating or the state of being disconnected. In psychiatry it is the separation of normally related mental processes, resulting in one group functioning independently from the rest, leading in extreme cases to disorders such as multiple personality disorder.
Inspired by Amanda Gorman, the youth laureate who recited a poem at the inauguration of January 2021, of President Joe Biden, saying that the purpose of her poetry was not only to provide hope, but to show the power of words, Cassola’s work, in her own way, welcomes her baby into a hopeful world.