Serena Perrone
At the Watering Trough: (Nasturtium), 2023
intaglio
30 x 22 inches
Edition of 12 plus 6 artist's proofs
The artist seeks out cause-and-effect relationships between one's culture, one's separation from or loss of culture, generational trauma, and the residual effects of displacement upon immigrant families, recognizing the roles of discomfort, longing and nostalgia.
In September, we will present our fifth solo exhibition of works by Serena Perrone entitled Accept the Omen. Perrone is known for work which spans the mediums of printmaking, including etching, screen print, and alternative photographic processes. Recently her work expanded to include cut paper, textiles and ceramics. The influence of her dual-citizen status and her family’s hometown of Tusa, Sicily has had an immense impact on her work with references to historic Italian architecture, the Mediterranean landscape, and the flora and fauna of both real and mythical locations.
A significant portion of the artist's work strikes a chord between the universally-felt aspects of dislocation while centering the extremely personal experiences of being between cultures. Her imagery features narratives that are tied to socio-political conditions which have a ripple effect onto the intimate domain of the private, familial and domestic. The artist seeks out cause-and-effect relationships between one's culture, one's separation from or loss of culture, generational trauma, and the residual effects of displacement upon immigrant families, recognizing the roles of discomfort, longing and nostalgia.
These themes play out in the exhibition through a multi-media presentation including At the Watering Trough (Nasturtium) 2023, a 4-plate copper etching of a public water trough with cascading nasturtium flowers harboring a tiny wooden sign that says “area under video surveillance: someone is watching”; Talisman Suite 2020, a series of five porcelain wall sculptures that represent symbols and icons that show up in Perrone’s other recent bodies of work (Something is About to Happen, Fata Morgana/Mondo Nuovo, the Janus series) and become touch stones to allegorical visions within the oeuvre of the artist; and the cut textile work entitled Lasciami stare/ stare con me 2021 which contains text woven into botanical motifs, first shown installed within the historic Magazzini Notarili, Tusa, Sicily. The title of this piece means “Leave me be/ be with me”. Windows and balconies in Italy can be seen as theatrical spaces and a typical Sicilian house is open to the elements, the balconies and windows are a key element of the architecture that directly impacts the social dynamic of a town.
