CONTENTS
Page One:
- Maria Luisa Grimani: Collages
Page Two:
- Songda
- FICHOU
Page Three:
- John-Henry Marshall's New Show On Wood
- Rich Chin: His Father Remembered
- Romantic Pieces from the Past
|
Su Paulownia |
For as long as she can remember, Italian artist Maria Luisa Grimani has been attracted to the technique of
pyrography. She says that in Italy it is used a lot to embellish
handmade wood articles.
Despite never having seen an artist using pyrography, she "had the
feeling that its graphic possibilities were superior" to what she
was seeing in those commercial objects. Nevertheless, for some time she
forgot about exploring any possibilities the pyrographic technique might
offer. Until one day, she says "when a game of chess changed
things. . . "
|
Radix Series, No. 6 |
Maria Luisa Grimani began to focus her creative energies around a game
of chess where she found her working method. Through analysis of the
movements and synthesis of the game as a whole, she came to the
realization that the movement of the knight could serve to carry the
creative momentum.
There is one more critical element that contributed to the final outcome
of Maria Luisa's methodology: A chess game has a support, a board that
is usually made of wood.
|
Radix Series, No. 3 |
"It all started more than two years ago," Maria Luisa
recounts, "when I was reading a novel by Italo Calvino entitled
The Invisible Cities. In the chapters where the cities
are described, there is a dialogue between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan,
the Emperor of the Tartars. In the story, Marco Polo, who didn't know
the Tartars' language, created a dialogue by means of gestures and
objects from all around the empire, which were placed on a checkered
floor."
"Over time, once Marco Polo could speak their language, the
dialogue evolved into a real match on a chessboard made of ebony inlaid
with ivory."
Calvino's novel was the spark that ignited Maria
Luisa's inspiration. She remembers, "My old
passion came out. I could finally work on wood panels with pyrography!
I felt sure I had found the best way to interpret my ideas."
|
Ottetto |
Maria Luisa's approach was to use pyrography to highlight the wood's
natural veining and colors "to find the rhythm and the story of the
piece of wood [she] was working on."
After that, she says, "I communicated with my wood panels through
my own objects: natural things I used to pick up when walking in the
woods or at the seaside, or curiosities I found in small markets all
around."
Wood of Choice. Although she occasionally works with woods like
Beech, Fir, and marine plywood, Maria Luisa's favorite wood is
Paulownia, which is the wood used in most of the examples displayed
here. Paulownia is a tree (named in the 1800's for Princess Anna
Paulovna of the Netherlands) that is native to Asia and has either white
or purplish flower clusters and large heart-shaped leaves.
Tools. To create her collages, Maria Luisa uses an electric
pyrography tool with various points to burn designs on the wood; she
also uses
carving tools; plus she uses brushes to apply clear varnishes or
colored finishes and wax to the wood.
|
Journey in Africa Series, No. 3 |
Maria Luisa Grimani's collages are displayed on her website at www.marialuisagrimani.it.
And in the Maria Luisa
Grimani Salon in the E-Museum of
Pyrographic Art.
Maria Luisa Grimani spent more than two years (2000, 2001, and part of
2002) working on the pyrographic collages inspired by the chess game of
Italo Calvino's novel. In addition, she is well known for her art books
(displayed on her website), which were recently exhibited at the
Marseilles Book Fair in France.
One very special book, which was included in that exhibit, is a short
story (in Italian) entitled Radice (Roots). It is a
handmade book with an original art work cover containing reproductions
of details of some of the pieces shown here and in the E-Museum
illustrating the story. It is Maria Luisa's own story, beautifully
written for her by her son Tommaso Correale Santacroce, telling how her
love of wood began in her childhood when she used to climb a large
walnut tree.
|
2003, Kathleen M. Garvey Menéndez, all rights reserved.
