WorksOnPaper

INK ON PAPER

By folding, crumbling, hanging and other “stressing” techniques, Saverio pushes the physical limits of the paper itself in order to generate new textures and depths. He combines ink brushwork directly onto the paper with the use of a PVC sheet – as a printing plate. This technique allows Saverio to reveal the image as a short of contact sheet, as in a photographic darkroom, by recording water patterns, modulate the degrees of wet and dry ink, mix colour glazings, paint&paste parts of the composition. The paper is then coated and flattened on canvas.

His colour palette stems from all kinds of light happenings, where the colour wheel is spun in ways that aim to explore other frequencies. Colour aberrations generated by perceptual errors; colours that express temperature and rotten organic matter; colours captured from fleeting reflections; colours that render interstellar spaces and place us in less familiar settings. 

Saverio’s imagery resembles landscapes, natural phenomena and the purposelessness of forms and patterns, by instantiating their formation and symbolic values.

SELF ABSORBED ON ROCKS 2019 - 2023

Self Absorbed on Rocks is a series in progress of panoramic works on paper painted directly on the sea coasts of different countries.
The pictorial action interacts directly with the landscape, painting directly on the cliffs and recording fragments of them: the speed and control required by ink painting, the improvisation in an accidental environment and the absorption times of the paper are prolonged for hours while mentally supervising the final composition. The immersive inner time shines through the painting and is considered the invisible element that supports the composition. Saverio applies a sort of photographic revelation process, using water and ink instead of chemicals and light and it shows through the colors the volumes and the texture of the rocks, the differences in height, the twists of the paper, the brush strokes. These images reveal the soul of these rocky places and their dialogue with the artist.

The title is inspired by a calligraphy painting by Tong Yang-Tze, who wrote four short monk’s prescriptions. “Don’t absorb in yourself”, one of the four, particularly provoked my attention, indeed pointing out the state of mind while painting and also the state of the wet paper.

FENKO catalysis chamber - a paper research institute in Taiwan - has been the consulting and technically supporting partner, by producing the bespoken paper used for this ongoing project.

ROCKSCAPES

The Rockscapes stem out of the series Self Absorbed on Rocks, revealing the composition and texture of different cliffs around the world, and opening a field of studies on a small scale.

ETHER PROJECT, 2018

The ether is an ambiguous entity, which operates in-between matter and its absence: It is said to make matter possible but it is not recognised as a physical element. The question which arises is: how would a landscape look like when the basic elements are not there, but just the force behind them? For the whole series of paintings I have combined four colours, the ones which appears when chromatic aberrations are happening. These “errors” are generated by our own eyes when our perception is in extreme conditions. The Ether series is therefore based on a set of colours which appears when we can hardly see.

These works employ painting and printings techniques, with which is possible to “impress” the ink on paper and create repetitions of elements in the paintings. the whole series is painted with specific colours which oxidate in time, changing to a reddish tone. This choice resembles the instability and the changeable and mysterious nature of Ether itself.

Puddles Monotypes, 2019

This series starts by designing coloured swamps in the studio in PVC containers, recreating and forcing what sometimes happens in rare natural situations. as they would reflect the light of an impossible environment. Afterwards, By soaking for weeks the paper into this solution of ink and water, patterns and colour tones are generated as water unevenly evaporates and ink concentrates. This paintings record the disappearance of the puddles through colour.

FLESH TRIP, 2018

ink, pigments on Xuan paper mounted on canvas, light and stage design.
screen installation, 10 moveable panels, 200 x 100 cm each.

read more…

RAUMFAHRT, 2018

ink, watercolours on Xuan paper glued on walls
paper immersive installation, 250 x 3000 cm

Imagining to lift up the whole room in the space, the painting suggests a skyscape which gradually rip apart, opening up a void. The bricks of the wall are visible through the transparency of the Xuan paper, revealing in this void the real space in the room. The installation is inspired by an ancient alchemic painting representing an epiphany: something unknown which burst through the sky, tearing it off. The lighting has been designed in collaboration with the sound and installation artist Olaf Schirm.

AZOTH, 2017

ink, pigments and acrylic on Xuan paper mounted on canvas
polyptych of 8 panels, 200 x 100 each

Azoth is one of the many names used in the alchemic language to address the spark in matter which makes the renovation and improvement possible. The polyptych stems out of a study series on mould, observing rotting vegetables, corns and meat, from which I was abstracting the essence of colours, movements and texture.  

The painting size suggests a mould-inspired landscape, arranged so that the shifted cuts between the canvas modules break the chaotic washes of colours, as time had been passing in between. 

ROCKSCAPE, 2015
Artist book - Published by Como, London - Barcelona
Introduction text by Josè Louis Pardo