Altar to a Canon
Calandra Italian American Institute, 2026

With dried roses, handmade publications, found objects, ephemera, rocks, shells, passed down textiles, prayer cards, books, and family photographs I built an altar to a literary canon for the very beautiful and meaningful group exhibition «New Practices in Italian American and Italian Diasporic Contemporary Art» at the Calandra Italian American Institute, in New York.

My site-specific installation pays homage to a largely unrecognized canon of (Southern) Italian and Sicilian American women writers whom I keep encountering through my longterm research project «Luigia», in which I explore the historical and metaphysical that permeate the diasporic mosaic that I was born into.

My thanks and love to curator and art historian Rosa Berland for seeing my piece and for including me in this meaningful, multidimensional show.

March 26 through August 14, 2026
Gallery hours: weekdays, 9-5

Calandra Italian American Institute
25 W 43rd, St Suite 1700, New York, NY 10036

At the opening, people said to me that the altar felt «like home», «emotional» and «familiar». It’s all I ever want: finding connection in the sacredness of the everyday.