Rosa Rossi

Artist Statement

To extend my thoughts and experiences in art, I have used, over the years, different forms of expression. Yet, in my whole artistic carreer I've always been longing to distill the immaterial into the matter. Whether it's a collage, a sculpture, an installation, photography or performance: what moves me, is the essence of things. One may consider it a form of alchemical work to make the invisible visible. Sometimes it seems almost a hopeless task which brings me to the limits of my mind and my feelings, but when the force takes hold of me I become it's operating medium. I only allow a piece of my artistic work out of my hands if and when the work has reached, at least in my complete opinion, a totality and completeness.

Since 2010 I work with a material which is originally intended for the creative support of children: Plastic pearls. These are melted to a coherent surface, and thereby they create pictures of great suggestive strength and effect.

Pearl for pearl the picture is built up. In doing so, I partially use phosphorescent pearls which are charged by light and continue to shine in the dark. This effect creates a second level which is of the greatest importance for a deeper understanding of the general statement of the image and for the finishing touch of each induvidual piece of art.

The finished works are presented in different ways. Some are inserted in old beams of wood that have served earlier to hold up ceilings during the construction of a house. The surfaces of the beams are sharpened by me, oiled and waxed, so that the wood gets a new shine in it's lived beauty again. The length of the beams varies from 100 cm to 300 cm. Smaller works are combined with Perspex, others, bigger ones, are developed to installations.

"If you wish to find a pearl, do not search it in a water puddle. Who wants to find pearls, must dive up to the bottom of the sea." (Dschalal ad-Dinar ar-Rumi)