INTUITION, for some more than others, it can be hard to capture, to understand or to even know when we are feeling it.  Perhaps its magic lies in that it can’t be explained with words and can only be felt within. It’s an internal compass that we have with us in every moment but that we don’t always listen to.  

“Intuition is seeing with the soul”

Dean Koontz

In the last few years, I have been drawn to learning how to enhance my senses and in particular awakening this sixth sense. And without consciously realizing it, I have always come back to certain spaces that give me a feeling of calmness and intimacy helping me connect with my inner world. 

Hidden in the labyrinth of Venice, Palazzo Fortuny has been one of these places for me. Out of all the majestic palazzos, I have always felt this space differently. A magic you can only understand after entering its walls. It’s as if you are taken back in time perhaps to its period of an atelier, giving you a sense of unexplainable familiarity and quietness.

Perhaps it is the influence and curated eye of Alex Vervoordt, someone who has inspired me more than he can imagine.

Each one of his exhibits has artfully interwoven and explored the proportions of time, space and transformations. 

It is how he uses the elements, plays with the senses, bringing sacred geometry or mystical elements into everything he does that always leaves me wondering how much more there is still to learn. 

For this reason, I dedicate this post to his last exhibition entitled “Intuition”, not only because it is his final masterpiece giving closure to his series in Palazzo Fortuny, but also because, more than ever today I think we all need to be reminded to listen to our intuition. And this exhibit does just that.  

“I live for that magical moment when, in solitude, I can finally “see” and “feel” with all my senses what I have always looked at…I take its essence and immediately have to draw.”

 Ida Barbarigo 

My passion for art and spaces has always gone beyond the beauty that these might irradiate but perhaps more for the mystery they evoke. Once again, Vervoordt leaves you with the desire and curiosity to explore and look beyond what is visible.

For those of you who don’t know his work, there is a profound influence of Eastern culture in everything he does. As well as this, his early interest in the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi is also unmistakable. This is a key element that he brings when curating and designing spaces, guiding you to go within enriching the soul as well as the senses.  

In this exhibit, Vervoordt prepares you to listen, as if inviting you to take a pilgrimage.  He guides you in opening your mind, experiencing art and feeling within…liberating your intuition.  

But you must first allow yourself to do so, to let go, meditate and tangibly feel the silence of the atmosphere created.  

I feel grateful to live so close to Venice and to those who introduced me to his work. For his vision has become one the most influencing traits in my own personal journey founding Nomad Atelier. 

I walk away inspired once again by his philosophy and from the knowledge shared in his dialogues with other brilliant and curious minds. It is exactly this that I hope to continue sharing with you in my own way.

RECOMMENDED READING OF ALEX VERVOODT:

WABI INSPIRATIONS  (English)  or in (Italian) LO SPIRITO WABI

MAISONS DE LUMIERE

INTUITION (EXHIBIT)

PROPORTIO (EXHIBIT)