Home Un-homey Home

 

 

Home Un-homey Home is a series of illustrations made with screen printing. The illustrations depict the relationship between Italian women and the domestic environment in a way that questions the cozy and comfortable concept of home as representative of Italian culture. A sequence of events is shown that aims to replace the Italian idealized idea of the relationship between women and the domestic environment with a claustrophobic universe of silent melancholy.

 

By analyzing and playing with gender stereotypes and the ideologies of her home country, Francesca’s work describes a series of grotesque and uncanny situations referring to Italian sexist mentality. In her work Francesca engages with her memories and the dynamics she observed in her family, society, and media--for women to complain about their condition was considered boring, annoying, and unattractive, and laughing at sexist and homophobic jokes was an obligation. In the same way, a man showing his interest in a woman by being verbally and physically aggressive was commonly considered virile, attractive, and amusing.

 

In her work Francesca investigates her memories about Italian women’s representation by illustrating different moments of women’s life: from their childhood to adolescence to the experiences of marriage and motherhood.