Primavera

Spring drawn in lockdown — life insisting on itself against the silence of the house.

Primavera is a studio work by artist Neve, pencils on MDF, 70 × 100 cm, created in spring 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"Primavera" is a studio work in pencil on MDF from 2020, 70×100 cm, made during the COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of that year. A young woman with long blonde hair looks slightly upward and outward, her gaze direct and composed, neither resigned nor defiant — the expression of someone waiting. She holds pink stargazer lilies against her chest and arm. Three swallows accompany her: one perched on her left shoulder, one at rest on her right arm, one caught mid-flight at upper right. On her right arm, a real swallow tattoo — the same bird, inked into the skin, as if the image doubles the painted ones. A white flower is tucked into her hair; a few cherry blossom petals fall at the lower edge. The ground is deep black, the light falling on the face and flowers in the Caravaggesque manner of Neve's studio practice. "Primavera" — Spring. The title was a statement made during the weeks when Italy was in total lockdown and spring was arriving outside windows no one could open. The swallow is the traditional Italian symbol of spring's return; the lily, of life after difficulty. The image is quiet and exact about what it is saying.