Incisore-Stampatore

These prints were made during my years at Il Bisonte per lo Studio d'Arte Grafica in Florence, Italy, where I earned a professional qualification as an etcher and printmaker recognized by the Region of Tuscany and the European Union. The title — Incisore-Stampatore, the Italian term for one who both incises and prints — describes both the credential and the practice: each work moves through the full process by hand, from plate to press to paper.

Living in Florence, I was surrounded by evidence of time made physical. Ancient water systems still in use. Cobblestones worn smooth and layered with decades of paint. Stone formations eroded into new structure while retaining their original mass. These are still images of things that record duration — objects that carry their own history in their surface.

The technique is chosen to serve the subject. Mezzotint builds from dark to light, working against the plate the way erosion works against stone. Intaglio holds ink in the grooves cut or bitten into metal, releasing it under pressure. These are slow processes with accumulated decisions, and that quality of accumulation is what connects them to subjects that are themselves records of time.