Roncolano i versi

Roncolano i versi (2007)
(The Verses Tumble Out)

unframed price

cotton fibre, pigment dyes

H 31 x W 50 cm

Suggested framed dimensions:
H 51 x W 70 cm (min)

This piece utilizes fresh colours - greens, blues - to convey growth. Lace from a woman's dress is used to blind-emboss a pattern onto the fibre. This is done by passing the work though the etching press after the fibre pulp process has ended and the drying is complete.

The lace becomes a woman's spine imprinted on the landscape representing not only toil and endurance, but closeness to nature.

Note on the technique:

The cotton fibre pulp works are built up using layers of dyed pulp in a wet-on-wet or wet-on-dry, hand mould and deckle process. There is no glue in the mixture as the 'paper' holds together through the natural interweaving of the fibres themselves.

The pulp is made predominantly from cotton linters which is repeatedly mashed with water before different natural or synthetic, fibre-reactive pigment dyes are added to create the basic palette. In some cases, organic material is mixed with or embedded in the pulps, with the possibility of larger elements being stripped away when wet or dry leaving a 3D graffito-style impression in the revealed layers. An important feature is the uneven edges (deckle edges) that the process produces.

The natural light plays a big part in the drying process which can take 3 to 4 weeks. Natural sunlight and the right temperature help the chemical reaction between pigment and fibre resulting in stronger, high-density colours.