Angelo di Petta

Initially started as a temporary diversion from my clay work, this scroll soon took on a life of its own. I had thought of spending a few hours or so taking rubbings from one of my plaster slabs which I had been using to make clay sheets (to be used for hand building clay forms) and then get back to my “real” creative work: ceramics. I decided to use a roll of fax paper that I had been using for sketching (I liked the fact that the roll is continuous and encourages a flow of images and ideas.) and graphite sticks. Six hours into it, I realized how direct, stimulating, satisfying and addictive the process of rubbing (also known as frottage) can be. I could not stop! Foot after foot of imagery appeared. At first faintly, then intensifying, as I applied greater pressure to the graphite. The image was left as it appeared. Although it had a strong graphic quality, it appeared flat and even. I returned to the rubbed areas and began editing (blocking out areas), isolating shapes, overlaying further imagery, “shading” to create depth and introducing colour at irregular intervals. I learned as I went, each discovery leading to a greater number of possibilities and variations.

In all, the scroll took almost two years to complete – if it is ever complete! On average, I spent about six or more hours on several feet. The length of the scroll is sixty feet. There is nothing significant about this number; it simply reflects the amount of paper that was left on the roll. The length made the compositional process difficult. It was not possible to get the whole picture and thereby assess how one area related to another. Repeated rolling and unrolling (back and forth) was the only way to judge what areas needed further work. I have gone back and reworked some areas numerous times. All I could do was to make one area flow into the next. This installation was the first opportunity I had to view the whole length of the scroll.

The scroll is not about anything in particular. It has no meaning. What it is (and it should be viewed in this context) is my rediscovery of a simple, yet latent technique and my spontaneous response to its possibilities. I encourage the viewer to look at it from a distance, up close, from left to right and from right to left and dwell on favourite passages.