Martina Cassatella

A graduate of the Brera Academy, Martina Cassatella has created paintings in which light and gesture, as primordial forms and initiatory journeys, evoke a sort of lost world that resurfaces in memory. Hands that filter sunlight, grouped together among sparkling filaments or holding glimmers, populate silent, nocturnal atmospheres, as if they were magical microcosms dense with energy.

A prime example is the series Catturare le lucciole (Catching Fireflies, 2024-2025), in which hands gently attempt to capture small luminous insects, reawakening that sense of wonder typical of childhood, recalling and paying homage to the animated film Grave of the Fireflies (1988), directed by Japanese filmmaker Isao Takahata.

Born in 1996 in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia), Cassatella has held exhibitions in Italy and abroad in private and public spaces, including Palazzo Hercolani in Bologna. She lives and works in Milan.

Arianna Baldoni