«Alba Lux was a sort of challenge because it was unexplored and obscure territory to me, as much as a chance to overcome a skepticism regarding personal fears and doubts». So start my conversation with Noemi Comi, a recent graduate from LABA - Libera Accademia di Belle Arti, in Florence. It all began by reading an online article that featured a story on near-death experiences (NDE). A phenomenon often characterized by various clichés, by the prevalence of religious refusal and investigated by the scientific literature only recently, from the 1980s. In short, the thesis is a challenge to dispel some prejudices, but also to analyze a phenomenon that has rarely been explored from a visual point of view. Comi quotes a few on her thesis. The virtual reality by Jose Montemayor and Bec Abdy. Death Is Only the Beginning is the name of an art project aimed at virtually reproducing the visual and auditory sensations experienced during an NDE. The viewer, wearing a specific viewer and some headphones, can totally immerse themselves in virtual reality, viewing about nineteen realms; rich in both mystical settings and real-world locations. In addition, a number of social issues are explored, such as climate change or global hunger. Users can also decide how much time to spend in each scene, thus becoming passive directors of the work; the travel time could vary between 10 and 15 minutes. In addition, the entire exhibition includes external paintings and photographs, but also live music and visual projections, all based on near-death experiences. 

© Jose Montemayor e Bec Abdy, 'Death is only the beginning', 2016

Cig Harvey is an English photographer who was the victim of a car accident, following which she had a near-death experience. This event radically changed not only his life but also his photographic vision. Following the accident, the photographer acquired a more documentary style. The successful You an orchestra you a bomb series was entirely inspired by his NDE. With a strong emphasis on evocative colors, it opens up to new worlds, touching magical and fairytale atmospheres.

The series depicts the artist's daughter, together with relatives and friends; highlighting a particular attachment to life, very common in people who have experienced an NDE. Also in the case of Harvey, the project stems from a strong need to work on lived experience and the complex relationship acquired with life itself. If the images prior to the accident had a strong conceptual component and were built with meticulous care, through You an orchestra you a bomb her style changes considerably, bringing the photographer closer to the creation of much more spontaneous and less refined images.

© Cig Harvey, 'You an orchestra you a bomb', 2017

In the Insiders series by Daniel Kovalovszky decides to examine the life and history of people who have died and later come back to life, who have learned about various aspects of the afterlife. The protagonists of the project were chosen regardless of religious, cultural, existential and social affiliations. However, their stories have several similar elements, attributable to near-death experiences. 
Every aspect of their life has been reorganized and upset: the relationship with others and the position towards the material world. In some way, the new life of the subjects is considered as a school, which has the task of educating and making significant positive changes. The photographer documents the stories of the survivors through faded portraits, juxtaposed with monochrome still-life, creating a fascinating project of hope and possibility. The photographs associated with the portraits represent an aspect, a memory or a symbol of the protagonists' stories. The ineffability of the subject dealt with prompted Kovalovszky to create surreal atmospheres and use very different photographic languages. Furthermore, the photographs are associated with texts of equal significance, complementing each other and creating a complete picture of the subject examined.

© Daniel Kovalovszky, Insiders, Statue for Irma Patkos di Erzsebet Schaar, 2015

Noemi's research is not at all simple to carry out. The testimonials are not that accessible. It is necessary to patiently enter into Facebook groups for example, in which people tell and share their experiences, sometimes anonymously. People are the most diverse. 
Many are afraid to expose themselves. Others have already externalized their stories through social media or magazines. Comi also met a few that were not yet fully conscious and were almost looking for support. So in the end it was not is not easy to find the right people with whom to start a dialogue that would lead to a coherent representation of the story. At the base there are very different situations, sometimes rooted within childhood trauma, or linked to dramatic events such as car crashes. Comi remembers the story of a child who due to high insulin injection fell into a diabetic coma and later woke up inside a coffin. Other cases did not stem from a trigger such as trauma but were rather related to more cathartic experiences. How to make their experience even more objective was the main question? 

Notebook by Noemi Comi gathering stories of NDE experiences

The experiences represented by Comi reflect an accurate reconstruction. The cases are meticulously described, with an almost forensic attitude. «Valeria's experience dates back to the 1980s when following necrosis on her hand she had to undergo surgery to create a skin graft. On this occasion, they had to administer several anesthesias, as the woman continued to feel pain and could not fall asleep. After finally falling asleep, suddenly, Valeria came out of her body, positioning herself on top of a closet. From this perspective, the woman could see her own body lying on the operating table, while the doctors tried desperately to revive her. [...] Valeria not only had difficulty in externalizing her experience due to the negative comments of the medical team and her family but also her physical condition had worsened; other necrosis had occurred and the only method to alleviate her condition would have been to undergo a bone transplant surgery. [...] During what can be called a dark moment, the woman was contacted by a medium who convinced her to undergo a session in her studio. This event was revealing for Valeria, despite her being skeptical. In fact, following the first meeting, the medium indicated to the woman a recipe that she should follow; it is a series of baths indicated by a monk of the 17th century. After following the recipe to the letter, Valeria's physical condition changed considerably. [...] 

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Valeria (2020)

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Valeria (2020)

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Valeria (2020) 

All this research takes the form of an artist's book through three well-defined choices. The portraiture with which Comi gives subjectivity to the story, not necessarily showing the faces but also through significant and evocative elements. Some of the people in fact had chosen to share their story anonymously. Hence the writing through which people were invited by Comi to intervene directly on their story through sentences and words. An overlay of reading layers is thus created within the images. And finally, the construction of an image that tries to visually intercept the changes induced by the near-death experience. For example, the boundless love for life or aspects of it, or the acquisition of new artistic or musical skills. Comi through abstract or conceptual images translates descriptions that often do not belong to the vocabulary of reality. The same people with whom he converses find it difficult to explain their memories because they are drawn from different sensory spheres, not attributable to everyday experience. We talk about sounds, smells that cannot be cataloged but also about poorly decipherable psychological conditions. Comi's is therefore a very broad representation, not necessarily negative, rich in nuances and different facets, sometimes not immediate for the observer.

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

The theme of death recurs in Coemi's work. As in 'Asphodels of Papier-mâché'. Through her artistic practice she seeks a confrontation with a taboo, something that we refuse to think about, or that occupies only superficially a common imaginary. Comi measures herself with fears and emotions that prevented her from becoming a doctor and from relating positively to this environment. A work still in progress due to the complications caused by the pandemic and the inability to access hospitals. Comi's goal is to be able to take photographs inside the morgues by pushing beyond that obstacle that has always held her back. To the stereotyped, gloomy, typical Western vision, she opposes a more colorful representation of death and illness. Comi more generally shows a fascination for the scientific world, playing with cliques, decontextualizing the subjects, almost ironically de-dramatizing definitions. As in 'Alba Lux', she starts from a scientific glossary to transform it and make it ambivalent. Her decisive, partly alienating palettes create a climate that makes the vision intriguing.

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Rita (2020)

© Alba Lux by Noemi Comi, 2020

The ironic dimension is also present in a new work 'Homo Saurus' by Comi. A project aimed at creating a world dominated by reptiles and reptiles humanoids. A sort of encyclopedic gaze that ironically stages conspiracy theories on reptilians, once again combining the images with texts and explanatory illustrations. Starting from an ambivalent vision of the scientific world, Comi wonders how to rewrite reality and lay bare a typical attitude of the hedonistic society of building stories, myths, fictions. It, therefore, seems interesting to observe her 'Alba Lux' as a synthesis of the themes and visual methods that are maturing in Comi's artistic production.

Comi, like many artists, says she finds it difficult to tell her projects, a bit like NDE patients, she often doesn't find the right words. Yet her images are able to stimulate our imagination and to project us onto an uncertain but beneficial dimension. Like Stella who in the seventies had been taken unconscious in the intensive care unit. Suddenly Stella began to perceive a very strong light; strong enough to lead it into a new dimension identified as a tunnel of clouds with a very strong light in the center. A very long road extended inside the tunnel, entirely made up of clouds. Stella walked the road for some time, until she violently re-emerged inside the hospital room, with a very abrupt transition between light and shadow. Despite her tough convalescence due to the inability to receive many transfusions due to her blood type, Stella found it comforting and liberating to tell about her experience... There is something redeeming in Comi's work.

© © Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Stella (2020)

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Stella (2020)

© Noemi Comi, 'Alba Lux', Stella (2020)

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LINKS

Noemi Comi (personal website) 
LABA - Libera Accademia di Belle Arti