Orazio

Orazio, Map Series 2010

Handmade lime paints, pigments, oil pastel, shellac and graphite pencils. 

 In earlier times, maps were made based on our perception of the world and how we imagined it to be. Maps suggest the journey. They are about a sense of place – our place, our home in the world- and how we navigate out from that home. And they are all about discovery. Inspired by a visit to the Galleria della Carta Geographica at the Vatican Museum, Orazio’s Map Series, is deeply rooted in his identity – in his intuitive relationship with the land, “his earth” and all that carries with it. Orazio uses earth materials – lime, pigments and marble dust – to mix his own paint. He painstakingly builds up the surface, layer by layer, to create lush surfaces of translucence and depth, infused with light. Within the surface of the painting, he creates many passages, which draw the viewer deeper into realms of mystery lurking just below the surface. His kind of mapmaking connects him to his source and to memory and suggests a veiled landscape of what lies within. They offer us a glimpse of another world and an intimacy with the landscape – be it inner or outer – unfolding before us.

Orazio was born in 1957 in Benevento, Italy. He studied art from a young age, apprenticing to a sculptor at the age of 13. In 1976, he moved to Rome to study sculpture at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. He then moved to New York in 1983 where he exhibited his work in the 1980’s and 90’s. In the mid 1990’s he established his business in the fine art of traditional Italian wall finishes. At the same time, Orazio began creating hand mixed colors for his canvases using the same earth materials he uses for his wall finishes. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn.