MARIAGRAZIA PONTORNO

Il Cedro dei Cieli, 2014

Mariagrazia Pontorno (b. 1978) develops a practice that weaves together memory, history, science and digital technologies, exploring the relationship between nature, knowledge and the construction of the imaginary. Through video, 3D animation, installations and immersive environments, her work brings analogue and digital culture into dialogue, revealing the poetic and symbolic dimensions of processes of transformation.

Il Cedro dei Cieli (2014) belongs to a cycle of works dedicated to the Botanical Garden of Pisa, one of the oldest university botanical gardens in the world. The work takes its starting point from a real event: in 1935, a majestic cedar of Lebanon, beneath which university scholars used to gather, was brought down by a violent storm. From this episode, Pontorno constructs a narrative suspended between historical documentation and imagination, transforming the cedar into a symbolic presence that continues to live through digital technology.

The work reflects on the fragility of ecosystems and the unpredictability of natural forces, challenging the idea of nature as stable and fully controllable by human beings. The cedar, a symbol of endurance and knowledge, becomes the emblem of a balance that is constantly exposed to transformation, reminding us that change is an intrinsic condition of living systems and one that has become even more evident in the face of today’s environmental and climate crises.

The work presents nature as an unpredictable force that cannot be entirely governed by scientific knowledge. Roots and sky, recurring elements in the artist’s practice, become metaphors for the relationship between memory and transformation, between what belongs to history and what continues to regenerate within the imagination. Through a language that combines technological precision with a visionary dimension, Il Cedro dei Cieli reflects on the fragility of natural heritage and on the ability of images to preserve and reinvent the past.