My work is autobiographic. The material I work with comes from the visual experiences I have from life around me.  Since I have always lived in New York, many ideas come from the city.  I do not go in search of imagery, rather, I feel that the imagery discovers me. The city offers it’s geometry, order and chaos for me only waiting to be seen.  When passing vistas or people I see often, it spontaneously becomes clear to me that the scene at which I am looking contains within it the potential to develop as a print or painting.  The works are developed from sketches.

I have eschewed the conventional wisdom of repeating the same imagery or even staying with the same subject.  I have found it stimulating to vary my subjects and compositions, each one is new challenge for me, There have been excursions into figurative and still life generated by personal experiences. At least a part of my creative process has been my fascination with the contradictions of creating space on a two dimensional surface. My process has always been about playing with this paradox.

In addition to painting, I have made etchings. I am currently focusing on lithography. Lithography is a media that is truly autographic thereby allowing for a direct application of media.  I prefer working on traditional Barvarian limestone because one can use a wide variety of media to create images and these stones make it possible to change or transform the image even after one has begun the printing process.  The limestones offer a luxurious surface upon which to work and once you are conversant with the process, anything is possible.  I have an inventory of Barvarian limestones of various sizes and print them in my studio on an antique, Fuchs and Lang type, press.

Making prints enhances awareness of the relationship between the image and ground. I find this insight into the relationship of image to ground in prints informs my painting.

Michael Pellettieri