Rosetta DeBerardinis

Artist Statement for Paintings

As an artist, I apply the colored pigment onto the surface out of a necessity to transfer an internal emotion into an external form. Color is my language. It speaks to me. I lay it down in a dance with the surface and watch it take shape and form in its own time. The objective is to use color as an agent to define formation, texture, shape and line as an expression.

I am merely a conduit for the pigment and unable to walk away from its urgency and immediacy requiring my complete attention. It is a dance between me and the surface hearing only its music which compels me to create what never existed before. As I work, I see connections, images, signs and formations as the pigment moves, drips, bubbles, flows and travels along the confines of the surface. I often manipulate the magic by rotating the canvas or using instruments to create an effect. The work becomes a manifestation of my spiritual vibration used as an expression of my compelling artistic need to communicate.

My work is reliant upon the historical context and techniques of abstraction as a backdrop for expansion. Jackson Pollock and the abstract expressionist movement laid a foundation for its development. I create work within the genres of abstract expressionism, action painting and Colour Field. Like Pollock, I prefer the floor to the easel; although I use both. I begin with an underlying painting then add multiple layers of brushstrokes, using spoons, paint stirrers, turkey basters, forks, drips, throwing, or swirling liquid pigment using a gloved-hand. I use my hand to push, pull and create thick vs. thin, narrow or wide lines of varied colored pigment, never relinquishing control.

Moving the fluid pigment against the raw surface creates the magic. I move around the canvas as I work. I take pleasure in watching the beads of paint roll, the thick globs drip and the brush strokes widen. The great joy in the work I do is watching an image transform. I then watch it take shape and design according to its own path and direction. I mix color on and off the surface, using spatial ambiguity, gestural strokes and madness to push each work to new boundaries. I do not accept the first level of imagery. I continue to add layer upon layer until the canvas speaks to me, signaling dismissal that my work is done.

My paintings are fluid, they move, dance and transform first into what I see, and later into what the observer sees. The imagery is different for each viewer. The final product results from my dance steps with the paint set against the surface. The work transmits color, form, texture and density rendering new discoveries with each viewing.

 


© 2011 Rosetta DeBerardinis.