Towards Jonathan Livingston (2023) Original Oil Painting by Assunta Cassa

Towards Jonathan Livingston began with an image I deliberately created on the South Pier of San Benedetto del Tronto. I asked a young woman I know to walk barefoot along the pier, carrying her shoes, towards Mario Lupo’s monument to Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I wanted that movement towards Jonathan to be present from the very beginning.

There is also a personal connection behind this choice. Many years ago, it was the young woman’s father who introduced me to Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull. The book stayed with me, particularly its reflection on becoming aware of our limits, exploring the possibility of moving beyond them, and freedom. Years later, painting his daughter walking towards Jonathan created a connection between that memory and the questions that still accompany me.

I worked mainly with a palette knife, building the figure and the surrounding space through fragments of colour. Warm reds, oranges, yellows, magentas and violets give presence to the woman, while blues and light blues open the space ahead of her; blue, for me, carries a sense of infinity. The fragmentation moves across figure, pier, sea and sky, connecting them within the same visual fabric.

The title is important: Towards. The young woman has a real destination, but her journey can also suggest an inner movement. I know where she is walking; what she is searching for remains open.

Materials used:

oil colors and palette knives

Details:

• Oil painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 100 x 150 x 3.5cm (unframed) / 100 x 150cm (actual image size)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the back
• Style: Urban and Pop
• Subject: People and portraits