Rossana Pinero Weksler

Project title:	Self Portrait of Me, in Another Time
Location:	Contemporary art space at Made by TSI Interior Design, Miami, Florida, US
Date(s):	June 28 – September 12, 2024

Artist Statement

I am a visual artist working in painting, drawing, photography and mixed media installation. I use abstraction as my language, because it enables freedom in my storytelling. In my visual research the presence of ancient and contemporary places, revolves around the lives of people that passed through these places. I depart from my own life experiences and connect to the universal. In a world that is constantly confronted with violence, I seek to make visual poetry that can linger in my audience’s memory and create connections with others.

Contextual Statement

Project Description

What gives us a sense of belonging and being at home? This is the core question that runs through my exhibition ‘Self Portrait of Me in Another Time’, presented at the contemporary art space of Made by TSI, in Miami, Florida, US, June 28 – September 12, 2024.  The exhibition title coincides with the title of one of my artworks, which became damaged during transport in 2021, when moving from Italy to Florida after twenty years of finding home in Florence. The title is metaphoric for a universal search of home and belonging, it also delves into identity, migration, memory, ancestry and time.

Methodology

Feminism, Humanism and Eco-feminism

My methodology includes a feminist, humanist and eco-feminist practice related to the essays by bell hooks in ‘belonging: a culture of place’, deeply identifying with:

• Ancestry, those that preceded us, guiding us in finding one’s own roots.
• Ecology and ecofeminism: cultivating our relationship to land and our bodies.

• Places to be surrounded by loved ones, that offer a support system.
• Humanism, finding a liberal community that Is accepting of everyone.

Unlike hooks, my search involves Italian, Spanish and Mexican cultural influences and places relevant to my identity across the Atlantic.

Methods

My research methodologies are centered on drawing, painting, photography and mixed media, including textiles, ceramics and natural elements. I access drawing and photography, as research tools and finished artworks. I researched my family archives, my personal photo library, Italian TV programs, ancient Roman and world maps, Etruscan and Mayan Stelae, poetry and essays, archeology and art history books. I made sketches, and memory, and dream entries in my journal and presented ten abstract paintings, a triptych study on paper and a mixed media installation.

Context

Sociocultural and geopolitical:

 This exhibition is presented in Miami, an area composed of a variety of communities: Latin American, Caribbean, African American and European, that make this land a rich tapestry, with a variety of immigrant expressions.

Theoretical and Artistic

I’ve realized that my narrative is relevant to others that relate to my human experience; and through my artmaking, I seek transmission. In D.H. Lawrence’s poem, ‘We are Transmitters’, he expressed the role of transmission in art and life. Unlike him, my work is not sexually inspired, but I relate to his writings of landscape themes.

The narrative aspects of Andrea Mantegna’s historical painting, ‘The Bridal Chamber,’ resonate in my work, I seek to create universal storytelling, in contrast, I am a contemporary woman artist, using abstraction.

The large-scale digital works by Refik Anadol at the New York MoMA (2022-2023), offer a deep sense of motion. Although my works are not high-tech, I also wish to create motion and fluidity in them.

Barbara Kruger’s use of text in her large scale works often include B&W photographs with bold phrases, challenging the viewer. In my work, I use photography, and text, unlike Kruger, my use of often blurred text comes from poetry, and I seek to pull the viewer in.

For additional information

Social media links: www.instagram.com/pineroatelier/

Youtube channel: youtu.be/L8fESq5z3No

Website link: www.rossanapinero.com/

Completed Projects – PFO

Outdoor/indoor, exhibition space views. Rossana Pinero, ‘Self Portrait of Me, in Another Time‘, at Made by TSI, Miami, Florida, USA. Exhibition opening night, June 28, 2024.

Exhibition view, entrance. Made by TSI, Contemporary art space, Miami, Florida, USA. Rossana Pinero, ‘Self Portrait

of Me, in Another Time’, June 28, 2024.

Rossana Pinero, ‘The Long Way Home’, 2024. Acrylic and oil pencil on linen, 48 x 70 in / 122 cm x 178 cm 

PFO. Exhibition opening, audience view. Artist talk and Q&A session, June 28, 2024

PFO_Artist talk and Q&A session_June 28 2024 Rossana Pinero

Exhibition view. PFO. Contextual text and painting, Rossana Pinero, “Self Portrait of Me, in Another Time’.

Rossana Pinero, ‘Through this Land, Blue Forest’, 2019-2024. Oil and fluorescent pigments on linen,

47.2 x 70.8 In / 120 x 180 cm.

Rossana Pinero, ‘Porta Romana’, 2024, Oil and acrylic on linen, 24 X 36 in /60.96 cm x 91.44 cm

Exhibition view. PFO. Jue 28, 2024

 Rossana Pinero, ‘Morning Light, Maremma’, 2024. Acrylic and oil pastel on linen, 36 x 48 in / 91.4 cm x 121.9 cm.

    

Exhibition view. ‘Bridal Chamber, the Encounter’ and ‘Campo Dei Fiori II’ paintings.

Rossana Pinero, ‘Bridal Chamber, The Encounter’, 2024, after Andrea Mantegna.

Acrylic and oil on linen, 24 X 36 in /60.96 cm x 91.44 cm

Rossana Pinero, ‘Vivere’, 2023-2024. Oil and casein on canvas, 30 x 40 in /76 x 101 cm.

Installation view.

Rossana Pinero, ‘The Atlas of My Dreams, II’ det. Arno reflections. Mixed media Installation.

Rossana Pinero, ‘The Atlas of My Dreams I_det. The Mysterious Sphinx. Mixed media Installation.

Exhibition view. PFO Artist talk and Q&A session.

Artist talk and Q&A session. PFO Rossana Pinero, “self portrait of Me, in Another Time’. June 28, 2024.