ARTIST'S STATEMENT - DRAWINGS

PEN & INK. BLACK & WHITE

Inspired by travels, journeys, flight, time, space and the coexistence of opposing forces, several cycles of pen & ink drawings have emerged lately from my studio, awaiting their unveiling to the public eye:

The "Migration" series (a selection is presented on the "Drawing" page)
The "Journeys & Generations" series
The "Relationships" series

THE MIGRATION SERIES

Travelling is experiencing with intensity.

Beyond exploring, travelling is about acquiring a sense of place.

Beyond contemplating the flow of shapes in a landscape, I kneel to the ground, run my fingers through sand, dirt, grass. I focus on the silence. In that frame of mind and spirit I try to feel the life force within, a pulse.

Beyond entering and exiting a space, I accumulate visual information by observing key-characteristics from up-close and up-above. I make note of features from a variety of perspectives to the target-objects: from the growth pattern of a leaf to the structure of a village seen from atop a medieval tower, from the abstract erosions carved by time into a piece of stone to the striped vineyard patterns on the hills of a Tuscan landscape. Up-close characteristics generate texture. Up-above characteristics determine structure.

By the time I leave, I have an imprint of that place.

My studio work starts with translating that imprint–an exaltation of the senses–into a visual language. A new journey is about to begin.

The process of distilling emotion into formal elements generates a wave of idea-sketches. Key elements start defining an essence of space. Communicating to the viewer a sense of space is not done by means of expected spacial relationships as much as it is done by means of emotional association and symbolic interconnections.

CREATING A METAPHOR

The Bird is a symbol of complete freedom, that enables me to rise above the existential condition of having been born and raised in one part of the world and living an ocean away from it. Travelling makes it possible to detach myself from being physically or emotionally tied down to any one place. It is a way of freeing the soul. It is a way of not living your life part by fate, part by choice, but rather being ALIVE by gaining vision through expanded knowledge and newly unfolded possibilities.

The metaphorical relationship between The Bird and elements of a place determine the composition. In turn, compositional arrangements indicate a trajectory for the viewer's eye to follow. That trajectory will engage the viewer into discovering a rhythmic beat beyond the allusive, the accidental, the perceived.

When my heart pounds with excitement throughout the creative process, it is a reward. If I ignite an emotion into someone else's heart, it is a revelation! A new connection is about to emerge.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT - TAPESTRY

I learned to treasure the objects and beings around me
not merely for their pictorial quality
but more for their symbolic meanings and
potential archetypal configurations.
On the infinite dome above,
I may instinctively contemplate the "illusory beauty of flying wings."
Beyond that, the challenge is to open my eyes wider
and look for the "inward nature of flight."
The process of structuring my fantasy into the solidity and
character of balanced compositions is
a key component of my mind and the reason why
my life is a perpetual adventure.
Dry restrictions do apply to tapestry technique;
but when my new piece is hanging on the wall
I only remember its rewarding possibilities.

My late tapestries, one-of-a-kind, haute-lisse technique,
with an average dimension of thirty square
feet, evolve on a scale from semi abstract to stylized figurative.
Subjects range from forms of human communication,
such as stage acting, to nature and environment,
such as earth evolution and wildlife,
from mythology such as "The Trojan War" series, to
human - animal interactions symbolizing
consciousness - instinct coexistence.