Chorus

Original painting by Michele Petrelli ©

The painting is an investigation into an emotional or existential resonance between individuals. The Chorus is intended as the set of inner voices that overlap to express a unique feeling, a common truth, or perhaps a shared suffering that cannot be articulated by a single person. The figures are bound by an intense physical proximity, suggesting they are psychologically inseparable and that their experiences merge into a single emotional wave.

The poetics are centered on silent drama and the coercive sense of belonging. There is an air of anticipation or impending revelation. The act of touching or standing so close, with faces that seem to react to the same invisible experience, creates a sense of shared destiny. The Chorus here is not a harmonious celebration, but the testimony of a shared human condition, where the individual dissolves into the archetype of the group. The surrounding darkness emphasizes their unity and isolates them from the outside world, making their interaction the sole focal point of meaning. The work is a reflection on the necessity of communion and its cost in terms of individual identity.