the Divine tourist by Daniele Villa Zorn

Danielle Villa Zorn has always been drawn to the art of collage, utilizing a minimalist approach that echoes the succinct elegance of a haiku—each creation fusing two disparate fragments into a cohesive whole. This method, akin to the careful cultivation required in gardening, allows her to merge distinct images into vibrant, new hybrids.

Over the years, Villa Zorn's artistic path has increasingly gravitated towards the incorporation of images from mid-century travel books and guidebooks from the 1950s and early 1970s. These portrayals from different times and contexts serve to comfort and mystify, crafting a tapestry that is simultaneously familiar and enigmatic. This duality enriches her collages, transforming them into complex landscapes that invite deeper reflection and exploration, akin to the layered intricacies of a sublime, haunting symphony.

Driven by a desire to delve deeper into her creative practice, Villa Zorn embarked on a journey of introspective exploration through tarot and cartomancy several years ago. This path was not walked alone; he was accompanied by a sensitive partner whose adept interpretation of the cards guided their collaborative venture. The project that emerged from this partnership is encapsulated in the book at hand.

In The Divine Tourist, Villa Zorn imagines a traveler blessed with the extraordinary ability to navigate effortlessly between images, free from conventional boundaries. This traveler, akin to a privileged alien wandering through a surreal landscape, seeks to uncover the latent narratives embedded within Villa Zorn's collages. These pieces act as portals to a world where the viewer is invited to immerse themselves in the complexities and subtle revelations each composition offers.

This book invites readers to embark on this exploratory journey, to discover the intricate connections and historical resonances that reverberate through the act of collage. It is not merely a journey through physical landscapes, but an odyssey across realms of imagination and memory, where every image and its placement narrates part of a broader story. Villa Zorn hopes that readers will find both enjoyment and insight within these pages, as they traverse this meticulously crafted world.