Tomoko Fait’s Il Settimo Giorno presents a striking exploration of circularity and depth, where concentric forms seem to fold into one another, producing a vortex-like effect that draws the viewer into its centre. Through the repetition of circles within circles, the artist achieves the illusion of a tubular cylinder diminishing in scale, terminating in a small yet intense red nucleus. This optical mechanism positions the work in dialogue with Op Art, the mid-twentieth-century movement exemplified by figures such as Victor Vasarely and Bridget Riley, who sought to activate perception through rhythm, vibration, and retinal instability
(Livingston, 1999, pp. 23–25). Like Riley’s kinetic fields or Vasarely’s geometric distortions, Fait’s painting destabilises surface and depth, inviting a perceptual experience that oscillates between immersion and detachment.
The title, Il Settimo Giorno (“The Seventh Day”), introduces an additional hermeneutic layer. In the Judeo-Christian cosmology, the seventh day marks divine rest, the consummation of creation (Genesis 2:2). The visual structure of circles collapsing toward a central nucleus may therefore symbolise both completion and transcendence. The concentric form itself resonates strongly with Jungian psychology, particularly the archetype of the mandala, which Jung described as a symbolic representation of psychic wholeness and the Self (Jung, 1959/1968, pp. 355–357). Jung noted that circular and spiral forms emerge in moments of
psychic transition, embodying the process of individuation, where disparate elements of the personality are drawn into integration. The vortex in Fait’s painting could thus be understood as a visual metaphor for psychic centration, the red nucleus functioning as a symbolic coniunctio: a union of opposites and a vital energy point around which the psyche is oriented (Jung, 1963/1989, pp. 395–399).
In this context, the optical illusion is not merely perceptual play but becomes psychologically charged: the pull toward the centre echoes the psyche’s teleological movement toward integration and balance. The “seventh day,” then, may be interpreted as both theological and psychological stillness, the culmination of activity, a symbolic rest where unity is attained. By combining the perceptual dynamism of Op Art with the archetypal symbolism of the mandala, Fait situates Il Settimo Giorno within a field that bridges art historical innovation with timeless psychic imagery, producing a work that resonates simultaneously on optical, symbolic, and existential levels.
References
Jung, C. G. (1959/1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (2nd ed., R. F. C.
Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press. (pp. 355–357 on mandalas and the Self).
Jung, C. G. (1963/1989). Mysterium Coniunctionis: An Inquiry into the Separation and
Synthesis of Psychic Opposites in Alchemy (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). Princeton University Press.
(pp. 395–399 on the coniunctio as psychic union).
Livingston, M. (1999). Optic Nerve: Perceptual Art of the 1960s. MIT Press. (pp. 23–25 on
Riley’s perceptual strategies).
Dr. Louis Laganà PhD (Lough) is an academic, curator and practising artist. He lectures on Art and Psychoanalysis and Art for Health and Wellbeing.
