by InTrieste
On Saturday, May 31, at 6 p.m., the Sala Veruda in Piazza Piccola will host the opening of “Racconti. Percorsi visivi ispirati a Spoon River Anthology di Edgar Lee Masters” (“Stories: Visual Journeys Inspired by Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters”), a solo exhibition by Gabriela Spiller, a multidisciplinary artist originally from the Veneto region.
The exhibition, which will run daily through June 16, offers free admission and is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Spiller’s creative path, rooted in a deep connection to the land and a lifelong affinity for artistic exploration, finds new expression in this series. Drawing inspiration from Spoon River Anthology, Masters’ seminal 1915 collection of epitaph-style poems, Spiller presents a body of work that transforms literary memory into tactile, visual forms.
Influenced by her family’s agricultural background, Spiller often returns to the raw materials of nature in her work. Her approach to ceramics, in particular, reflects this: earth, water, air, and fire come together in a process that yields what she calls “Croste” — cracked, layered acrylic surfaces that suggest both erosion and emergence.
“I arrived at the Croste in 2004, and I immediately understood their potential,” Spiller said. “I see them as a kind of skin I shed in order to reveal myself. The moment when something hidden begins to resurface is a powerful one.”
The exhibition is as much a tribute to the material world as it is to literary legacy. Spiller recalls the moment she received a copy of Spoon River Anthology from her sister as a child — too young, perhaps, to fully grasp its meaning then, but moved nonetheless by the emotional weight of its voices from the grave.
That early encounter with Masters’ poetry has now taken visual shape in Trieste, in a show that invites visitors to pause, reflect, and look beneath the surface.
