When visiting Pompeii several years ago I was fascinated by the numerous fresco walls and fragments that survived a major vulcano eruption and weathering of thousand of years. Especially the fragments caught my attention because they paint a picture of the life in Pompeii while also leaving room for your own imagination (because we really don’t know how they lived back then). But you get a glimpse of it. This inspired me to not just paint in fresco, but also create fragments, broken pieces and layered pieces.
In addition, there was one other event that brought me to fragments. I had started to paint frescos on ceramic tiles and then an earthquake hit the Bay Area. My fresco tiles (which I had only lean against the wall without hanging hardware) came down and broke in several (and hundreds) of pieces. Initially, I felt heartbroken, but then I realized that this is an opportunity to work with it - to create something special. I decided to rescue some of the fragments and put them together like a puzzle (similar to the restored pieces I saw in the Pompeii museum area). Then I used broken clay tile as my canvas and also painting frescos with then intention to break them later (with I did). A whole new series evolved “frammenti” (italian word for fragmented).
And here is why I am so fascinated by “frammenti” frescos:
The (incomplete or broken) artwork leaves room for imagination - what do the missing pieces look like, why did it break…?
The art connects the old (broken, ancient technique, weathered,…) with the new (today’s view of things, role of art in our lives, …)
The fresco fragments also follow the wabi-sabi tradition I use in my other sculpture work - impermanence, imperfect, …
The process is sculptural in nature: What shape, several layers, where do I break, how to mount the pieces, …?
It’s like life - aren’t we putting pieces together (or fix broken “pieces”) everyday to lead a more joyful, meaningful, fulfilled life…?
Fresco Fragments - my fresco paintings on tiles were “fragmented” by an earthquake
If you want to see what I did with the fragments from above, and how I put them together, please take a look at the Fresco Fragments (frammenti) series.