Found Objects

Venice is a fragmented city and dilapidation is certainly central to its charm. Eveyrwhere we look, walls are crumbling as quickly as they're being patched up. Walking around the streets one can always find abandoned pieces of masonry that have fallen off buildings - decayed bricks, cracked tiles, wooden panels. On my frequent walks around Dorsoduro, in particular Santa Marta, with our dog Spritz, we've taken to collecting some of these promising-looking fragments. On getting them home we do a thorough clean-up, followed by a careful preparation of a surface using gesso. Katia then paints an appropriate image on the found object. The result is a wonderfully tactile and iconic piece, a real chunk of Venice, rescued and given new life as a work of art.