Past Series: Pulleys & Gears

Pulleys & Gears is a body of work I started while a student at SACI: Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy. I was excited to discover the machines and tools in the History of Science Museum, Museo Galileo.  Many of these machines worked by a system of pulleys and gears. These machines instantly made me think of my Pepere (my grandfather) and my uncle.  I'm a family gal, and I really missed both of them, so I wished I could explore the museum with them. It may seem too obvious that I went from feminine fruits and flowers to the grit of masculine machine parts, but I don't mind admitting its transparency. I let the materials guide the composition in the vellum drawings. I loved how a delicate wash of color could become a force pushing against a gear. Mists in peach/cherry paintings reoccured in my gear and pulley drawings and paintings. I was searching for stability and permanence in my all of my relationships ...yet, through my drawings, discovering and accepting, that nothing is ever permanent.