Fire Printing

If the medium is the message, the subsidium is part of the meaning and mastering a technique is the language. T.G.

Silvia Celeste Calcagno - from: La fleur coupée, 2015 - fire printing

The photographic image is suitable for many kinds of support, in this case the artist merged her knowledge in the field of ceramic with the the know-how of ancient photo-techniques: the result is stunning. 

Silvia Celeste Calcagno - Je t'aime, 2015 fire printing

Silvia patented her own technique to print on the ceramic and called it: fire printing gres.

I talked to the ceramist/photographer to make her an interview, but she refused to speak about every theme was not about a conceptual nature.

I appreciate the artistic work of Silvia, but I find that if the same idea was fixed on paper, for example, the final result would not have been so strong, so meaning, so beautiful, so interesting and so precious. 

Silvia Celeste Calcagno - Rose 2015, fire printing

Detail of Rose

Silvia Celeste Calcagno is the winner of the international ceramic prix: Faenza 2015

Silvia Celeste Calcagno portrayed herself on these very small tiles and in all her works

"The project Internal 8 - La fleur coupée builds a story related to a very current social and political dimension. The female figure has declined in its fragility and intimacy, it told through opposing trends that blend images with a distinctive emotional perspective. The work manages effectively the different contemporary languages such as performance, photography, sound installation and environment, structuring a complex layering narrative that takes the form of a ceramic research of an experimental nature, where all 2,000 small pieces sublimates the representation of single detail in an abstraction of the whole."

Selfportraits in searching of an identity

An interior of the Officine Saffi, the gallery in Milan where is possible to see the exhibition: La fleur coupée

The works showed in this exhibition are sold between 800 and 14,000 euros.

Final consideration

To be a person who does not consider important the technical aspect, Silvia seems to be quite frightened after the question: "How did you make it?" Maybe, she thinks there is more interest to her secrets than to her artistic creativity? Or, behind her works is there any industrial application of what she makes?

I do not know what to think or what to tell you about it, I can only say that there are many ancient techniques to attach a photograph to ceramics, such a result could also be achieved by coating the gum bichromate on clay.

Of course, there is much work behind the tiles of this Ligurian artist and it is understandable that she does not want to talk about their tricks, but it seems also plausible that before opening the bag to buy something that costs a lot of money, everybody would like to know what he is buying, how it is made and how it reacts to the passing of time. It is normal for every collector asking to himself what you have in return for his trust, as well if his confidence is well placed.

For a more exhaustive reading on this subject, have a look at the Tony Graffio's article in italian language