Rosetta DeBerardinis

New York from the Air

Medium:

Painting

Artist Statement:

As an artist, I apply the colored pigment onto the surface out of a necessity to transfer an internal
emotion onto an external form. Color is my language. It speaks to me. I lay it down in a dance
with the surface and watch it take shape and form in its own time. The objective is to use color as
an agent to define formation, texture, shape and line as an expression.
I am merely a conduit for the pigment and unable to walk away from its urgency and immediacy
requiring my complete attention. It is a dance between me and the surface hearing only its music
which compels me to create what never existed before. As I work, I see connections, images,
signs and formations as the pigment moves, drips, bubbles, flows and travels along the confines
of the surface. I often manipulate the magic by rotating the canvas or using instruments to create
an effect. The work becomes a manifestation of my spiritual vibration used as an expression of
my compelling artistic need to communicate.
My work is reliant upon the historical context and techniques of abstraction as a backdrop for
expansion. Jackson Pollock and the abstract expressionist movement laid a foundation for its
development. I create work within the genres of abstract expressionism, action painting and
Colour Field. Like Pollock, I prefer the floor to the easel; although I use both. I begin with an
underlying painting then add multiple layers of brushstrokes, using spoons, paint stirrers, turkey
basters, forks, drips, throwing, or swirling liquid pigment using a gloved-hand. I use my hand to
push, pull and create thick vs. thin, narrow or wide lines of varied colored pigment, never
relinquishing control.
Moving the fluid pigment against the raw surface creates the magic. I move around the canvas as
I work. I take pleasure in watching the beads of paint roll, the thick globs drip and the brush
strokes widen. The great joy in the work I do is watching an image transform. I then watch it
take shape and design according to its own path and direction. I mix color on and off the surface,
using spatial ambiguity, gestural strokes and madness to push each work to new boundaries. I do
not accept the first level of imagery. I continue to add layer upon layer until the canvas speaks to
me, signaling dismissal that my work is done.
My paintings are fluid, they move, dance and transform first into what I see, and later into what
the observer sees. The imagery is different for each viewer. The final product results from my
dance steps with the paint set against the surface. The work transmits color, form, texture and
density rendering new discoveries with each viewing.