Dr. Valluzzi describes her mixed media landscapes as ‘Reinvented Landscapes’. Each Reinvented Landscape is a clearly recognizable subject, yet each uses media and materials in novel ways. The paintings in Leaf, Paper, Twine bridge artistic disciplines by combining masterful use of acrylic painting techniques with weightless sculpted stiffened paper and string.
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The subjects of the pieces in Leaf, Paper, Twine are lone trees and groupings of trees. Valluzzi combines traditional painting ideas with bold abstraction of patterns and elements found in nature. As natural patterns are abstracted through mixed media and fiber media, her work displays a sensitivity to the nature and properties of each material and medium employed. Her approach to the pieces is both deeply informed by her background as a Materials Scientist and by a challenge to closely held ideas about the nature and function of media and materials in a painted depiction.
In Leaf, Paper, Twine the linearity and stiff elasticity of linen and hemp twines form the linear twines patterns of bark and branches. Formed paper and metal leaf become leaves. The patterns formed by brushed and knifed paint are echoed in the patterns of twisted cotton thread. Two-dimensional representation seamlessly blends with sculpted string to create the various features of trees in the landscape. The result is a series of very approachable yet complex paintings that are simultaneously engaging, beautiful, contemporary and thought-provoking. Each medium and material employed functions as a part of the representation of the landscape, yet the unique nature and inherent properties of each material is also highlighted.