Drawings

‘Garment Chronicles’

Charcoal and pencil on archival paper

These works are part of a series of drawings where each of them brings forth memories, personalities, and cultural resonances that garments carry over time. Through line, tones and intentional compositions “Garment Chronicles’ seeks to connect viewers with the unseen narratives, exploring how clothing serves as both a personal and collective chronicle.

‘Beneath the surface’

Pencil and charcoal on paper

I have approached this drawing in a spirit of immediacy and improvisation. Water, reflections, and submerged fish capture the elusive stillness of a fish pool within its dynamic environment. In its simplicity it symbolises the interplay of reality, perception, fluidity and change, and the distorted views we have of the world. The mysterious aspects of life. The work aims to evoke a contemplation on the depth and complexity of reality, urging one to question the surface and explore the hidden layers beneath.

‘Room, unknown

Pencil on paper

There is nothing like an unmade bed in a hotel room to trigger the mind towards compelling metaphors, and as a visual testament of the human experience. Memories, traces left behind, intimate vulnerability, layers of narratives, joy, sorrow, loss, all tangled together. The unmade bed beckons viewers to confront the beauty and chaos of their own emotions.

‘Morning Sun’

Graphite on paper

Numerous times throughout the winter season, I wake up to this beautiful spectacle. The whole room is flooded with light and the glow is such as to put the colours to sleep.                                               My drawing is an attempt to recreate the effect of this marvellous winter early morning sun.            The main idea behind this work is to capture the harmonious counterpoint between light and shadow.    The light shapes the objects creating a sense of calmness and stillness.

‘Impressions’

Charcoal, chalk and gesso on canvas

I have always been attracted to impressionistic qualities in art and music, the suggestive rather than the immediate. Using charcoal on canvas has allowed me to blur the boundaries between painting and drawing. I particularly enjoy working in black and white as it allows one to almost visualise and search for colours at a more subtle level.

In these small works a sense of nostalgia permeates as I see the Australian landscape through European eyes. At a subconscious level I created a fusion of my impressions of Sydney landscapes bathed in an atmosphere of a wintery landscape.

Claudio Valenti, 2007