Isabella Bruno Ysbel - La preghiera

Before embracing the freedom of abstraction, my research paused on the shapes of the female body reinterpreting them. This series titled “The Gesture of the Soul” tells of women caught in intense postures, where each pose, at times exaggerated, is not just a form but an inner vibration. I wanted to represent the truth of a moment: a glance, a muscular tension, an exposed fragility, pure volume and emotion.

Painting these figures, whose shapes twist and compress, with limbs too large for the space that contains them, was a way to objectify a sense of emotional confinement: the marked lines and the textural brushstrokes are scars of a tense dialogue with matter. The mood that guided me expresses a constant tension between being trapped in the flesh and the desire to melt into the air.

This work is part of the series I named “The Gesture of the Soul.”
It represents a female figure gathered in a nearly fetal and abandoned position, in a deep and silent inner dialogue.
The pose folding in on itself suggests a prayer understood as introspection, a search for spiritual strength deep within one's being. The hand, placed low and open, is ready to receive or to let go, in a gesture of humility and offering.

The decisive and marked brushstrokes define the contours and give the body a almost sculptural solidity. Cold colors like blue for the body evoke the sacred dimension, calm, and transcendence, probing an intense and spiritual moment; the thick colors like intense red and violet create a dense atmosphere in which the figure is immersed, symbolizing passion and the pain of life.

A circular dynamism permeates the painting: everything revolves around the center, directing the viewer’s eye to focus on the emotional core of the curled figure.

Gulliver’s Travels
Mixed media
cm. 90x100

Artist Isabella Bruno Ysbel, Italian.
Official site www.ysbel.it
Work for sale
Title: The Prayer, belonging to the series “The Gesture of the Soul”
Mixed media on canvas (acrylic colors, enamel)
Dimensions cm. 90x100
Signature on the front right and on the back of the canvas.
Comes with an authenticity certificate.
Excellent condition; the canvas was painted by me in 2011.
The work will be shipped in its original condition, i.e., on a wooden frame.
The work is ready to be hung (edges painted, does not necessarily require a frame).

Since December 14, 2022 my work "Great Expectations" has become part of the permanent collection of the Municipal Civil Library of the Municipality of Moncalieri "A. Arduino" - MuBi-Museum in Biblio Public Art Project. Location: Canon Hall

Solo exhibitions:
“Showing”
From December 8 to December 24, 2013 - Turin - MILLEVOLTI Bookstore
“Unintentional Bodies in Dense Souls”
From April 2 to 11, 2009 - Turin - Brotherhood of Artists

“Fun... Aperiparty”
February 12, 2009 - Turin – Spazio

“Café Paris”
April 2008 - Turin - Café Paris

“The Color Shouted”
From December 8 to 31, 2007 - Turin - MILLEVOLTI Bookstore

“Art and Fashion”
From October 19 to 30, 2006 - Turin - Biko's

Group shows:
“Collective La Morra”
From January 1 to 31, 2010 - La Morra (CN) - Cantina Comunale di La Morra

“Rassegna Rights-Integrated”
June 21 and 22, 2009 - Turin - Onda Urbana Onlus Association

“167 Exposition of Figurative Arts”
April 2009 - Turin - Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts

“International Italia Arte 2009”
From March 25 to April 6, 2009 - Turin - Villa Gualino

“166 Exposition of Figurative Arts”
From March 28 to April 27, 2008 - Turin - Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts
"Les Couleurs de l'Italie"
From September 1 to 15, 2007 - Paris - Galerie d'Art Espace Arsinoé
“EAT - Nourishing Yourself with Art”
From March 20 to April 1, 2007 - Turin - Italian Art in the World-Onlus Association
“Artinfiore”
September 24, 2006 - Villastellone (TO) - Painting Art Competition Aldo Assom
“Warm Lands”
From August 1 to 8, 2006 - S. Margherita Ligure (GE) - Il Sorpasso Art Gallery