Pamela DiMauro Statement

PAMELA DIMAURO
Artist Statement

As a new mother and wife I am currently finding my inspiration closer to home: The way the light moves about the floor, the shadows of the trees against the house, or the silhouettes against the city's night sky. Impressed by these images, I created several of my new etchings by placing a coated copper plate in a way to catch the shadow of a plant directly, and draw its outline. I draw upon the medium's sensitive nature to build richness and depth with millions of lines, contours, and crosshatchings. In addition, I use aquatints to give the work a more graphic feeling and render it bold enough to be read from across the room. Aquatints are created by covering the plate with very fine particles so that the almost invisible openings between those dots can be etched. To the naked eye, those tiny dots will appear as a gray tone. Shades of gray are achieved by altering the length of the etch: The longer the etch, the darker the tone will appear. I strive for a look that is quite different from traditional etchings, which are, to me, synonymous with tedium and tiny marks.

Plants have always been a part of my life and therefore, a priority in my visual language. In these images, I feel that the plants act as vehicles of self-expression, revealing pieces of me more honestly without having to be literal. I often wonder at plants and how effortlessly they make growing look, how beautifully they cycle through the seasons, and how graceful they are in their dying. How much could we learn from their nature? This work is a tribute to that spirit.

-Pamela DiMauro, 2006

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PAMELA DIMAURO Artist Statement As a new mother and wife I am currently finding my inspiration closer to home: The way the light moves about the floor, the shadows of the trees against the house, or the silhouettes against the city's night sky. Impressed by these images, I created several of my new etchings by placing a coated copper plate in a way to catch the shadow of a plant directly, and draw its outline. I draw upon the medium's sensitive nature to build richness and depth with millions of lines, contours, and crosshatchings. In addition, I use aquatints to give the work a more graphic feeling and render it bold enough to be read from across the room. Aquatints are created by covering the plate with very fine particles so that the almost invisible openings between those dots can be etched. To the naked eye, those tiny dots will appear as a gray tone. Shades of gray are achieved by altering the length of the etch: The longer the etch, the darker the tone will appear. I strive for a look that is quite different from traditional etchings, which are, to me, synonymous with tedium and tiny marks. Plants have always been a part of my life and therefore, a priority in my visual language. In these images, I feel that the plants act as vehicles of self-expression, revealing pieces of me more honestly without having to be literal. I often wonder at plants and how effortlessly they make growing look, how beautifully they cycle through the seasons, and how graceful they are in their dying. How much could we learn from their nature? This work is a tribute to that spirit. -Pamela DiMauro, 2006 ~back~