TERRE LONTANE - DISTANT LANDS, 2020

Created during the travel restrictions of 2020, this series emerged from a period when physical distance transformed the way people experienced place, connection and the world beyond their immediate surroundings.

Gaia Starace draws on memory and imagination to evoke landscapes that are felt rather than represented. Fragments of colour, texture and material become glimpses into distant places, shaped by nostalgia and a desire to reconnect with the world beyond physical boundaries.

A continuous yellow oil stick line moves organically through the compositions, becoming a recurring thread between one place and another. It suggests movement, passage and connection across geographical and cultural boundaries.

Through layered materiality, intricate detail and restrained abstract compositions, Starace explores the tension between distance and belonging. The works become imagined territories where memory, place and experience intersect, inviting the viewer to move beyond the visible and consider the connections that persist between people, cultures and landscapes, regardless of distance.