Fossil Horizon, Portovenere Rock Rubbing, Italy 2014 Drawing

Born in UK but originally from Italy. My Italian parents met in London's Victoria Station in the mid 50's and it's where my journey and sense of identity begin. As a language tutor and being naturally bilingual, I've always been aware of the nuances in language forms, rhythms and meanings and also how they play or weave into our sense of being and place in the world. In understanding and interpreting knowledge and the languages/forms we use in communicating, I tend to focus on the intricacies and experience of what is around or beyond our vision/senses. My work is interdisciplinary exploring language in its varied forms and other-worldliness which are often suggested through mapping familiar journeys and fragmented narratives. Various ongoing research projects encompass journeys from different perspectives, such as the Roman roads and inscriptions projects that I started in the 90's. These link directly to my personal experience of journey, language and belonging. Previous exhibitions include being shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize, London in 2007, the work selected was a series of four original pencil rubbings, entitled 'Between: Swiss Border Rubbings'. which also toured the UK. As part of the methodology, I use photography and mark making processes such as rubbings or printing, to explore visibility, the hidden and what is revealed. The rubbings series for example, suggest spaces between various surfaces where rhythmic voids and structures emerge. Often taken at locations within border-spaces, or at geologically vulnerable points, the forensic aspect of revealing or omitting what lies beneath the paper and letting the rubbings come alive presents us with something other than initially confronted with. Similarly, using photography to explore new visual perspectives allows different spaces to be opened up by the viewer, renegotiating the notion of space/place and how this is embodied. The acrylic print series take on a more abstract aspect using chiaroscuro to evoke other-worldliness or explore linguistic traits through rhythmic voids and hidden or revealed forms. Suggestive of archaeological fragments, fault lines or embodying the globe, my work is interwoven with spatial and geological interests where mapping takes on the sense of a journey, with various points of reference. Other artists who have influenced me are Cy Twombly, Man Ray, Mona Hatoum, Alberto Burri/Arte Povera.