November 2 is “Giorno dei Morti,” the Italian Day of the Dead, and we have a special Zoom workshop, with the wonderful Roberta Feoli De Lucia in Venice, that will focus on using recycled materials to explore themes of grief and memory.

Participants will work together in a small group to try and give “shape” to a memory. Using plates made from recycled materials like milk cartons, we will carve a form that in our imagination represents the loved and absent beloved. Inside this sort of paper doll, we will use drypoint techniques to engrave the memories linked to foods, flowers, words, objects and everything that normally fills our mind thinking about this person. The absence will become lines and stories that we can cherish or dedicate to those like us who experience the grief of loss.  Once the plates are made, Roberta will demonstrate how to ink, wipe and print them – either by hand or using a pasta maker.  Participants can print at home in real time with Roberta or watch the demo and print at a later date.

The workshop gently aims to give space to pain through creativity, using unique and sustainable printing techniques that can easily be done at home. The atmosphere will be one of listening and supporting one another as we commit these precious stories to paper.