Erika De Martino

Betwixt And Between

Betwixt And Between (Né Qui né Lì, in Italian) is an ongoing photo project striving to explore different views and the complex range of emotions connected with short temporary returns to my home country, as an Italian living abroad. The chaotic traffic in Palermo is just the starting point leading to a visual reflection upon many elements in the spontaneous comparison between Italy and Finland -where I am currently based- and between my hometown and Palermo. My photographic diptychts show the tension by analogy or opposition between here and there, as well as within the same place.

But what is here and what is there?

Contradictions emerge at all times. Geographical dislocation embeds powerful emotional earthquakes. Have distances shifted my cultural and interpersonal intimacy? Has my way of perceiving and being in a place changed? What is the nature vs urban environments dilemma all about?
Many things remind me why I left. Many things, yet, trigger the sudden (impossible?) wish to go back go back where? Where are my roots? And do I still have wings?