The Lapis Lazuli Variations

The Lapis Lazuli Variations is a series of minimalist abstract paintings by Emilia Telese started in 2025, created exclusively with crushed lapis lazuli on paper. By reducing means to a single, historically charged material, the works foreground colour as subject and substance. The deep blue of lapis—valued since antiquity for its rarity and spiritual resonance—operates here not as representation but as presence.

The series draws on traditions of abstraction where colour functions as an autonomous emotional force, and on Minimalist principles, emphasizing material specificity and direct perception. The physical granularity of the pigment aligns with contemporary art theory’s focus on materiality, as discussed by Rosalind Krauss, where meaning emerges through the viewer’s encounter with the work rather than symbolic narrative.

Each variation invites sustained looking, allowing subtle shifts in texture, density, and light to unfold over time.

As with all series by Emilia Telese, The Lapis Lazuli Variation is conceived like tracks of an album or a symphonic suite on a specific theme.