A forest of pine trees gives way to nothing but turquoise air. Mist moves through the trees, softening the wood and lending an air of silence. A passage of violet and pink breaks through the green. There is no ground here and no horizon, only the forest and light. This is Etna weather, the hour when the cloud comes down through the pines and the mountain seems to hold its breath.

The painting gives its name to The suspended wood, an ongoing project in which Torrisi works closely with Mount Etna and other Italian mountains. Samantha Torrisi was born in Catania in 1977 and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Catania in 2002. She lives and works on the slopes of Etna, and her practice integrates painting with video and photography, reclaiming in oil the images that reach us through a lens.