To investigate these existential questions, Bizzarri repeatedly returns to the Atacama Desert in Northern  Chile, where he documents the abandoned towns and objects, recording their constant decay and the  way in which the passage of time transforms them. It’s a region covered by a dense layer of dust excavated by decades of mining activities. Venturing deep into often abandoned towns and cities, he captures how light interacts with the dust particles in the air, transforming light into a tangible presence. 

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The records serve as references for his paintings, where he translates the desert’s hazy atmosphere into technically complex compositions. Dust, in his practice, symbolises both preservation and transformation.  “Suspended in the air, the dust particles metaphorically contain history itself,” Bizzarri explains. Illuminated  by light, these particles are unknowable parts of the past that linger indefinitely, reflecting the artist’s on going interest into the passage of time.  

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The desert’s extreme dryness preserves both material and sensory memories, acting as a repository for remnants of cultures, people, and histories. Dust, like light, shields objects from the elements, while the  stillness of the landscape symbolises how memory resists oblivion. Through its dryness, the desert allows even centuries-old objects to survive, standing as a witness to the passage of time and the erasure of memory. 

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In DUSTBOUND, Bizzarri explores the tension between disappearance and persistence, using the unique conditions of the Atacama Desert as a space for this investigation. Through his paintings, he thinks about how dust functions as an unknowable witness to the passage of time. He offers a new perspective on how dust does not simply preserve, but stands as a bearer of histories that cannot be fully understood,  histories that continue to linger long after they have been forgotten.  

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DUSTBOUND will be on view from March 4-28, 2025 at 162 New Cavendish Street.  

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