IMAGE BY: F. SPINA

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

My art does not portray subjects at their prettiest; being pretty is not the paint. Being more raw, I like to think they are more authentic, more honest. I try to cultivate a milieu of ambiguity with characters that are in their intentions and motivations vague. Having said the latter, sometimes the image is what it purports to be, simple and to the point.

I like to capture that which is between the skin and the soul. The images in my exhibitions are sometimes more perfunctory, but at the same time carry with them the baggage of quirkiness and idiosyncratic meanings and presentation.

My Arctic deception of the towns and hamlets strives to give a sensation of the place rather than a slavish depiction of buildings and roads. In so doing I try to keep the image fresh and subtly changing with the passage of time. Accurate renditions have the danger of becoming boring with their character of a ridged facade and visage. Images or feelings for the place on the other hand carry with them the possibility of malleability and plasticity, a quality that can maneuver the currents of space-time more successfully than can a ‘precise reality’.

My paintings are usually jumping off points to my poetry and short stories. After completion of a painting, it often conjures up words that develop into stories in their own right. It is important to note that these stories are not written in stone but are my interpretation at a moment in time. I am pleased when my paintings elicit ambiguity. For me, if I paint a “duck” it will always be a duck, now and a thousand years from now. With a rigid reality and meaning it loses mystery and life, with the distinct possibility of becoming boring. Painting for me needs to engender as much mystery as it can; the more mystery the more alive it becomes now and into the future. It cannot be boring if it continues to be mysterious.

Join us for the Opening Reception on November 10, 2022, from 4:00 – 8:00 pm.

The Artist

My influences are diverse. As a child, I was brought to art galleries and historical sites by my parents. By the time I was eight years old I had visited many of the major art galleries and museums in Italy. My parents also brought me to Canadian and North American and Mexican art venues, so in a way, I was well-educated and experienced in art at a young age. My father was also a painter, so there was always something creative going on in our household.

Later in my earlier teens, I began to travel and continued to do so to this day. My initial ability and learning to draw came in the early 1970s when I followed a street artist around in Amsterdam and learned to do portraits on the street and get paid for it. I set up my chairs and positioned myself outside the Van Gogh Museum and was able to gain a lot of experience as well as some cash doing portraits of tourists.

My major influences are those I gain through travel to Asia, South America, Europe and here in Canada working with the Inuit of Nunavut. (I have worked for the Nunavut Government as a Mental Health Consultant and Social Worker for the last twelve years) I sometimes work with Inuit carvers and am influenced greatly by their tradition and artistic sensibilities – they in turn are also influenced by me.

See more of Ferdinando’s information on his ASA Profile.