Ladder

New York-based artist Francesca DiMattio’s oeuvre represents a concerted investigation into the concept of space. In her paintings and sculptures – a selection of which are presently on display in the Saatchi Gallery’s group show ‘Known Unknowns’ – DiMattio draws upon architecture, design and cultural history to transpose and combine spatial objects into giddy bricolage. Ladder, a capacious canvas that featured in the 2008 Saatchi Gallery exhibition ‘Abstract America’, is exemplary of her practice. The eponymous subject stands within a beguiling combination of architectural cues, including the arches of a gothic crypt, the black-and-white chequerboard tiles common in Renaissance interiors, and, in a vibrant orange, the patterning of a Persian rug. These elements, along with a pair of birds, a parasol and some abstract bars of shimmering gold paint, collide in fractured layers, flashing in and out like a computer glitch. The chequerboard floor appears to warp, granting a mysterious sense of depth to the composition. ‘I am interested,’ says DiMattio, ‘in polarities and difference, so while sifting through hundreds of torn images I choose a bunch that seem to pull in different directions weather historically or narratively in terms of place.’ Ladder is a fascinating reflection of the Internet age’s information overload, where clashing styles and ideas can be brought together to create something thrillingly unexpected.