Starchild
an ARTISTIC PROJECT between HUMANITY AND THE STARS
IMMERSIVE PHOTO PORTRAITS
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Starchild is an art project conceived by Enrico Magnani in 2022, a visual exploration that investigates the ancestral link between man and the cosmos. Through the Supernova series, the artist transforms the human body into a medium, wrapping it in video projections of real works that dissolve the boundaries between figure and universe. The result is a kaleidoscope of light and color, where the subject merges with the cosmic image, becoming an integral part of a stellar narrative.
Starchild stems from a scientific and poetic premise: we are, quite literally, stardust. The elements that make up life - carbon, oxygen, iron etc.- are the product of ancient supernova explosions, cathartic events that made our existence possible.
In this series, the supernova becomes a maternal archetype, a cosmic entity that ideally re-embraces its progeny through projected light.
Magnani constructs a dialogue between art and science, between corporeality and infinity, challenging the viewer to recognize himself or herself as part of a larger whole. The aesthetically hypnotic works transcend simple contemplation to become visual metaphors: an invitation to reflect on the interconnectedness between microcosm and macrocosm, between biology and astrophysics.
Beyond formal suggestion, Starchild is an act of awareness: a tribute to the wonder of the universe and to our role, both ephemeral and extraordinary. The images are fragments of a larger discourse, where art and science merge, giving rise to an important question: what does it mean to be children of the stars?
The subject merges with the artist's work, becoming a new work
Starchild transforms the portrait into a meta-work of art: the subject, photographed wrapped in the projections of the “Supernova” series works, is not simply depicted, but merges with the work itself, becoming in turn a new artistic creation (subject + work). Through this symbiosis, the artist draws a visual bridge between the human and the cosmic, reminding us that our bodies are composed of the same elements generated in the spectacular stellar explosions called Supernovae. The portrait thus conceived transcends representation to become a celebration of a common cosmic origin.
The Eternal Present: the Suspension of Cosmic Time
At its core, Starchild is also an experiment in suspended temporality. The cosmic projections enveloping the subject do not merely transform their physical presence—they stretch the very fabric of the moment, creating a liminal space between past and future. The images of supernovae, captured in their fleeting brilliance, merge with the human form in a dialogue that collapses the divide between the ephemeral and the eternal. In this fusion, the viewer is invited to perceive themselves as a bridge between measurable time and cosmic time, where what has long perished (the light of dead stars) lives on in our flesh and gaze. The work thus becomes a monument to the paradox of existence: fragile and transient, yet charged with the legacy of an infinite universe.
