Interlacings

Pellegrinuzzi has been exploring photography for many years, delving further and further into its history, mechanisms and physical properties. Superimposed layers of transparent or translucent film give his work its unusual depth. Since 1985, he has participated in many exhibitions both in Canada and abroad. In the artist’s words, Interlacings is the metaphorical embodiment “of that social and political ideal that necessarily involves understanding others.” This atmospheric landscape is composed of hundreds of thousands of interwoven lines that represent the branches of the vinegar tree, also known as the sumac. This shrub is recognizable in autumn from its crimson, spiky flowers. Pellegrinuzzi’s interpretation of the vinegar tree takes the form of a weave he reproduced by using the calculations (and magic) of image processing, and by printing on film covering both sides of a sheet of plate glass. On one of the film sheets, Pellegrinuzzi has “imprinted” the equivalent of two layers of the image to give the drawing a sense of depth and movement. A species native to North America, the sumac reproduces by extending its rhizomes horizontally, like social networks that know neither borders nor hierarchies. In this respect, it is an apt metaphor for “the mixing and plurality of interwoven destinies” aspiring to a shared peace.