Natural and unnatural. What is unnatural - how can it really exist if everything we perceive around us in nature, is natural?
Unnatural is a construct, a human construct brought about by fear of the unknown, fear of others, fear of difference, fear of the individual, of those that stand for belief in self, those that believe that there is more than being just part of the crowd - part of the safe.
Unnatural can have many meanings, many layers of meaning, depending on culture, gender, age, personal perspective. It can be benign, but rarely is. It is so often a sharpened stick, a bull whip, a shackle, a thrown rock, it is purposefully a tag denoting 'outsider', 'abomination, 'unclean.'
The artist Francesco Cavicchioli has taken 'unnatural' to mean the generational vendetta against the LGBTQ community. A vendetta that more often than not has had organised religion at its core.
Francesco is fully aware that the word unnatural has been deliberately chosen. The word places the LGBTQ community outside of nature, outside of the realm of the natural world, and therefore deliberately gives it the status of illegitimacy.
It encourages legitimate movements towards obliteration, being that god is perceived as nature, and nature is god's work, anything outside of that would be considered an abomination.
Francesco has produced a particular project of work entitled in-NATURE. To understand the project is to understand the perceived connection, or disconnection if you prefer - with nature.
This is an artist that has taken 'unbelonging', being 'unnatural' and placed that deliberate estrangement into the realms of nature.
In some respects, it is a form of healing, of reintegrating the LGBTQ community within the bounds of nature, showing that despite the disintegrated 'unnaturalness', everything is nature-based.
Running along that theme, it would be obvious to most that the LGBTQ community is therefore legitimate and natural - 'unnatural' having no point of reference. Still, since when does logic sway bigotry?
Francesco has produced a beautiful set of photos, with 'unnatural' set within nature, making both therefore natural. It is seamless, because it is the truth.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the connection between every living creature and the planet. We are a product of this planet, we are an intimate part of this planet.
Nothing and nobody is ever unnatural, the only unnatural part is for someone to isolate an individual as unnatural - that is the crime, that is the insult to generative creation. It is something that Francesco sweeps away with achingly beautiful depictions of natural and nature, combined because they are inseparable.
It is important to understand the way things truly are, and not to misunderstand by believing them to be the way we want them to be. Nature, is nature, is nature, and Francesco shows us this in full glorious detail - in-NATURE.
All work is copyrighted to the artist. Please ask permission before sharing imagery. Thank you.
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