Justin Aversano is an artist and curator working between Los Angeles and New York City. The co-founder of Save Art Space, a non profit bringing community art to public spaces, his work in this field makes him a natural fit for the community focused curatorial selection at Natively Digital. Aversano's place at Sotheby's highlights both Sotheby's and Robert Alice's commitment to both community and a decentralised focus within the curatorial narrative. Investigating Aversano's work, it stands as a premier example that decentralised curatorial structure brings not just work that has a strong community support, but also a conceptual and aesthetic quality. We are delighted to have his work as part of Natively Digital.

For the show, Aversano presents Twin Flames #49, a deeply personal and poetic photography about death, loss and family. In Aversano's word's, "Alyson Aliano is standing in her home in Los Angeles looking into the bedroom mirror reminiscing of her deceased twin sister, Courtney. Alyson is holding Courtney's death certificate to honor the spectral presence of her long lost twin. This was the final Twin Flames portrait that was photographed in 2017, before the new year, on a Mamiya C330 TLR medium format film camera shot on 120mm Kodak Portra 400 color film.". Reminiscent of the intimate portraits of Nan Goldin and the equally searing work by Diane Arbus on twins, Aversano shines his intimate lens on the ability of photography to capture and express this moments with a humanist pathos grounded in reality. A testament to art's ability to act as therapy, the work bears a hightened personal emotional tenour to the artist as for him it "semblances my experiences of losing a twin sibling in my mothers womb due to a miscarriage". To continue in Aversano's powerful personal insight, this "prenatal disconnection, which was the catalyst to begin the Twin Flames healing journey. To honor my fraternal twin sister; And embark on an adventure around the world in search for self-discovery, community building, and mending old wounds in my heart. The mirror acts as the conduit to connect with the spirit world. With Alyson's eyes closed she is standing in front of her own reflection, which symbolises the unconscious communication with her departed sister, Courtney. A literal representation of duality as seen through the looking glass. This photograph is an alchemical portal for capturing, processing and releasing deeply profound emotions. An artwork that serves as a totem for catharsis; breathing, between the inhale and exhale, when everything in the room becomes one."

Twin Flames #49 is part of a larger project of 100 photographs that Aversano took of twins from all different backgrounds, but remains singularly charged for its connection to Aversano's own personal journey.