Venice and Commedia dell’Arte

The visual experience of Venice is like no other. Layers of time, history, technology, innovation, of glorious culture past and present, are seen and felt in multiple layers of brick and stone, of peeling wood on ancient doors, and rust on elaborate window grates – all floating on water.

Walking about the winding streets as guest artist at Scoula Internazionale di Grafica in 2022, I noticed vendors selling colorful cards representing Commedia dell’Arte characters. They piqued my curiosity.

Once back home, I began to research Commedia dell’Arte, an improvisational street theater which emerged in the 15th century in Venice.  I learned how impactful it was and still is to writers and performers.  It’s playful, slightly subversive attitude towards human behavior and social hierarchies inspired me to experiment with new forms of expression featuring characters past and present, interacting on stage. I’ve always thought of my print/collages as having a narrative, theatrical component, so bringing these characters into the work and onto the stage made perfect sense.

Woven in to this series are thoughts about how, in spite of the swirl of change that surrounds us, human nature and social constructs seem to remain surprisingly unchanged with the passage of time.