Equilibrio – Photography as a Meditative and Formal Act
Born during the forced stillness of the pandemic, Equilibrio is an attempt to construct order within chaos—to transform a collective state of suspension into a personal grammar of calm.
Gabriele Modica approaches photography not as a tool for documentation, but as an artisanal gesture, a meditative practice, a visual expression of inner balance.
The series is composed of minimalist arrangements built with colored paper and plasticine—two humble yet essential materials. Though they share identical hues, their behavior toward light and form diverges, subtly disorienting perception and demanding closer attention.
Paper becomes the cosmos: neutral, perfect, immutable.
Plasticine is the human: malleable, imprecise, fragile.
In every form, the artist leaves his fingerprint—a secret signature, silent yet tangible, anchoring the work in corporeality and imperfection.
These photographs do not narrate, explain, or illustrate.
They suspend. They elevate. They realign.
They invite the viewer to slow down, to breathe, to listen. To be enveloped by a geometry that is not cold, but ritual.
In an age of visual excess, Equilibrio replies with silence.
It rejects spectacle. It resists urgency.
It proposes a kind of photography that does not capture a moment—
but carves it.
Vieste
Photography
2022
Alluminium Print
30 x 42cm
Palermo- Italy
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This work is my personal interpretation of a prayer—a bridge between the earthly world, concrete and three-dimensional, and the infinite, undefined beyond.
These realms are not separate, but interconnected, two parts of the same reality.
The link between them is drawn with graphite—the soul of the pencil, an ancient symbol of art.
Throughout history, humanity has used it to depict the invisible, the sacred, the beyond.
Here, the artistic gesture becomes a form of communication between the visible and the unseen—a tangible trace of something that exists beyond perception, yet can be sensed, touched, and translated into image.
Grazia
Photography
2022
Alluminium Print
30 x 42cm
Palermo - Italy
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Grazia is a tribute to the total lunar eclipse of July 2018—one of the most powerful and extraordinary astronomical events of the century.
That night, the blood moon became a symbol of suspension and transformation, momentarily reshaping our relationship with the sky.
The work captures the essence of that cosmic balance, where shadow and light intertwine, creating an image that feels both intense and almost mystical.
Gravity
Photography
2022
Alluminium Print
30 x 42cm
Palermo - Italy
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I’ve been recording my dreams almost daily since I was eight years old, and many of my works are born from that inner archive.
This photograph is inspired by one of those dreams: the sphere represents myself, while the green cube—floating above—symbolizes a part of my past.
It’s a weight I’ve carried for years, but over time I’ve learned not just to bear it, but to let it become part of me.
Green, a calm and meditative color, contrasts with the tension created by the motion and relationship between the two forms.
Malìa
Photography
2020
Fine art Gliceè
70 x 100
Palermo - Italy
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This work explores a powerful, almost mystical attraction between two elements.
The true subject isn’t what’s seen, but what lies at the center — a space that appears empty, yet gathers all the tension of the composition.
Inspired by The Creation of Adam, the two opposing forces emerge from opposite corners, drawn toward each other by the lines beneath them.
They come so close, they almost seem to touch — their gravitational pull converging at the very heart of the image.
This generates a hypnotic energy, pulling the viewer’s gaze along every line of the composition,
only to bring it back, again and again, to the center—a place that is both void and full at once.
