Imprints of Absence

Escat Gallery presents Imprints of Absence, the inaugural exhibition of its new space in the Sarrià neighborhood. The show brings together works by Silvia de Marchi (Melzo, Italy, 1967) and On Hansen (Barcelona, Spain, 1974). It will be on view from September 25 to November 19, 2025, marking the opening of the gallery’s new season.

Matter preserves memory: fragments, traces, eroded pigments, layers suspended in time. De Marchi and On Hansen engage in a dialogue from distinct territories, yet deeply connected through erosion, vestiges, and silence.

Silvia de Marchi’s works arise from a slow practice, attuned to the passage of time and the wearing of materials. Through the technique of strappo, acquired in her experience as a restorer, she transforms the artistic act into one that reveals more than it conceals: what is lost, what endures, and what remains. Her Tempio series functions as microcosms, where each layer encloses a gesture, a story, a presence—imprints invisible yet tangible.

On Hansen, meanwhile, presents Winterreise, a body of work that traverses eroded surfaces, ghostly writings, and archaeological imaginaries. His pieces explore the loss of a shared language and the beauty that persists as an echo. Matter seems to speak from a wounded place, where time has not only passed but has left marks and scars. In the morphology of his works, beauty survives—not as a promise, but as a trace.

Both artists investigate how the passage of time leaves its mark on matter, revealing stories of presence and absence. Erosion is not destruction, but a process that speaks of the fragility and resilience of memory. Eroded surfaces, superimposed layers, and fragmented elements confront us with the difficulty of understanding a world in constant transformation. Imprints of Absence is an encounter with that fragile beauty revealed in the incomplete, in the trace of what once was and still endures in time.