Through August 15, 2020
Liz Chalfin and Sheldon Carroll traveled to Venice, Italy for three weeks in February – March 2020 (sandwiched between Carnivale an Covid 19) as part of an artist-in-residence exchange with the Scuola Internazionale de Grafica.
Our inspiration for these photo etchings were the faces of the hundreds of keystones, which adorn the bridges and walkways of Venice. These faces or “mascaroni” protect the citizens of Venice from the devil who might rise from the depths of the canals to steal their sours.
The mascaroni in our prints search the heavens and scan the sea with their ancient eyes and crumbling faces as the corona virus casts a veil of uncertainty and unseen danger across the city.
Technique: we started with mobile phone photographs which were manipulated in Photoshop and then photocopied onto polyester lithography plates. These thin plastic plates were rolled up with BIG etching ground and transferred onto aluminum and etched in copper-sulfate saline mordant. We printed on Fabriano and Gampi papers and layered the imaged in the final prints. The colors we chose were inspired by the water and the walls of Venice.