Payroll

In an era where society that demands gender equality, the collection Payrollreveals a plain and simple truth. Economic independence has not freed women from the inner desire of having a rich man by their side to take care of them. Money is still the most “powerful aphrodisiac”, to the point that it becomes one of the most important factors (if not the only one) for starting a relationship. And it is in this context that the God of Money becomes to women what the Goddess of Beauty is to men, the only way to achieve a sense of power, fulfillment and gratification.

We grow up watching Disney fairy tales and believing that love is all you need, but when we grow up the only thing we want are Princes and majestic castles.

In a world where “consumerism” is the word of the day, the concept of love is tragically distorted. Emotions and affinity give way to material desires and aesthetic ideals. We look at wealth as the most important measure of wellbeing, to be attained as fast as possible and with the least possible effort.

It is in this sad, modern reality, that what should be the consecratory hollowness of romantic love is replaced by another form of gratification and satisfaction.

Cynicism? No, just the harsh realty.

The woman portrayed in Payroll, covered with luxury jewelry, is the perfect symbol for this. She is probably smiling to herself, believing she made it, without yet having realized she has in fact clocked herself in a cage, where feelings are degraded, unspoken and ignored. That is how the sparkle captured in this image takes on a completely different meaning, because no matter how valuable or studded with diamonds and precious stones it may be, a cage is still a cage and it will stop you from taking flight.

What was a dream becomes an illusion. What was supposed to be wealth turns into destitution. The word love transforms into solitude.