Piece description from the artist
Tree of life motifs are often used as symbols for diversity and the resilience of interconnected systems. Trees themselves mirror these properties. We’re only beginning to recognize the importance of old growth trees and forests in rooting the entire forest ecosystem. Older trees have an impact that newly planted replacements will not attain for decades – sometimes centuries. As deforestation and even forest management have allowed the loss of these trees, the warp and weft of the forests ecological fabric is weakened and threatens to unravel.
The tree in this mixed media painting is fairly literal. The use of white creates a negative space. The soft ghostly outer limbs of the tree combine with the negative space to create an impression of absence, fading. At the same time, plaster soaked textile media create a substantive trunk, suggesting an anchor point.
Sculpted plaster cloth forms the raised areas. Coiled string was added for detailed texture, and to create a transition between the trunk and smaller branches.
Marbelized pools and softly raised textures were created by pouring liquid and gel media and striping color through the wet media. Splashes of water and a little gravity helped get the colors to move and intertwine.
String gel swung into wet media was used to create the soft linear patterns.
On canvas with 1.5 inch deep heavy duty wood stretchers. Wired for hanging with heavy duty wire and hardware. Finished edges (no framing required)
Dr. Regina Valluzzi has an extensive scientific background in nanotechnology and biophysics. She has been a scientist in the chemical industry, a green chemistry researcher, a research professor at the engineering school at Tufts, a start-up founder engaged in technology commercialization, and a start-up and commercialization consultant.
Even during periods of intense activity as a scientist, Dr. Valluzzi has always held a strong interest in the visual arts and in visual information. While she majored in Materials Science at MIT, she also obtained a second degree in music and a minor in visual studies. Visual arts have managed to permeate her technical work; during her Ph.D in Polymer Science and Engineering at UMass Amherst, she completed a thesis that required advanced electron microscopy, image analysis, and theoretical data modeling. These experiences provided the visual insight and information that now influences much of her artwork.
Dr. Valluzzi’s work has been included in private collections across the US, UK, Germany, Canada, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Dubai and Malta, and in the corporate collection of "Seyfarth Shaw" Boston law offices around Boston. She has a selection of pieces on loan to the MIT Materials Science and Engineering Department as indoor public art. Her accomplishments include having published thirty articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals, having made several scientific patents, having been a subject matter expert for an encyclopedia chapter, and having been invited to speak at science talks across the US, Europe, and Japan.
Her newsletter is a good source of ongoing information: http://eepurl.com/daiLQ
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