
Ornithoptera victoriae
1975 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, gold-leaf, acrylic, pastel and pencil on Handmade Watercolour paper
“La Parola con Entomologia” (The Word with Entomology) originates from two years spent living and studying in Florence and Rome and travels throughout Italy.
The work is inspired by Giotto’s use of colour and “depth” in his frescoes that adorn the 14th Century Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel in Padua and the juxtaposition of written text and image used in Illuminated Manuscripts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
The image, previously monochromatic and text informational in my earlier work, now isolates ‘words’, ‘letters’ and ‘numerals’ using a Medieval artist’s palette incorporating insect-tincture, plant pigment and gold leaf.
The “Insect” motif of the past ten years is extended to include “Papiliones” (Butterflies), parts of which - bodies and wings - are meticulously selected and magnified to form entomological templates.

Papilio Krishna
1976 21cm x 21cm Gold-leaf, insect-tincture, plant pigment, acrylic and ink on Handmade Watercolour paper

Chrysochroa chinensis (Buprestidae)
1976 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, plant pigment, gold-leaf, gouache, pastel and pencil on Handmade Watercolour paper

Papilio demoducus
1976 21cm x 21cm Pastel, ink, gouache, letra-set, pencil and plant pigment on Handmade Watercolour paper

Boarisa hieroglyphica (Noctuidae)
1976 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, letra-set, gouache, acrylic, pencil, pastel and ink on Handmade Watercolour paper

Parthenos slyvius
1975 21cm x 21cm Plant pigment, dry-point, letra-set, acrylic, gold-leaf, pencil and ink on Handmade Watercolour paper

Callitaera pireta
1976 21cm x 21cm Pastel, gold-leaf, insect-tincture, dry-point and acrylic on Handmade Watercolour paper

Erasmia pulchella (Zygaenidae)
1976 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, plant pigment, dry-point, gold-leaf, pencil, gouache and ink on Handmade Watercolour paper

Parides philoxenus
1976 21cm x 21cm Gouache, dry-point, insect-tincture, pencil, ink and pastel on Handmade Watercolour paper

Hesitia lyncea
1975 21cm x 21cm Plant pigment, gouache, pastel, ink, pencil and gold-leaf on Handmade Watercolour paper

Omithoptera Croesus
1976 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, plant pigment, gold-leaf, ink, pastel, pencil and acrylic on Handmade Watercolour paper

Papilio Ulysses
1975 21cm x 21cm Insect-tincture, pencil, plant pigment, gold-leaf, pastel and ink on Handmade Watercolour paper

Agglomerati urbani esistenti
1976 21cm x 21cm Plant pigment, gouache, letra-set, dry-point, pastel, ink and pencil on Handmade Watercolour paper

Farfelle sopra di Roma
1976 21cm x 21cm Dry-point, letra-set, pastel, acrylic, insect-tincture and pencil on Handmade Watercolour paper

