Talisman Suite (2023)
Talisman Suite (i-v): 20x16", framed glazed porcelain hand-carved bas-relief tondos mounted on screen printed watercolor monotypes on Kitakata Japanese paper, date of completion 2023.
The first five of this ongoing suite of ceramic pieces features recurring imagery that reprises motifs from other recent bodies of work including: Something is About to Happen, Fata Morgana/Mondo Nuovo, Janus Series, and my photographic work. Hands modeled after my own hold symolic objects that include a forked stick, goat skull, mirror, and trumpet vines. Elements from one piece sometimes appear in the others; in this way, these bas-relief works function as a collection of talismans while alluding to the interwoven narratives that play out in my two-dimensional work. The bas-relief forms and tondos take cues from Luca della Robbia and Giacomo Serpotta, but feature landscapes and imagery culled from my immediate surroundings and places of personal significance.
Talismano: La Fionda (Blue)
Tenere le corna in mano (Green)
Polifemo: Don’t look now (Pink)
Grasp gently the Devil’s Trumpet (Yellow)
Primavera sulla collina (Chartreuse)