Francesco Arena
Head Between Hand, 2018
18kt yellow gold earrings
3 x 2.5 cm & 2 x 1.7 cm
edition of 10
signed and numbered
For his first and to this day only wearable art project Francesco Arena created something rather personal by using his own body to realise his vision. Each earring has an imprint of the artist’s finger – one of the thumb and the other of the pinkie finger. Once these gorgeous earrings are worn, Aren’s right hand is metaphorically embracing the head of the wearer.
A newborn typically expands his hand with the aim of grabbing anything that surrounds him. This gesture symbolises his will to live and to experience what is around him. This gesture has not changed for the artist, not even in his adult age, as he keeps on opening his hand to grasp what he wants and what he needs. Thumb and little finger get apart from each other to greet or to intimidate, to touch or to grab.
