Robert Di Grappa: capstone
Date
2018
Authors
Di Grappa, Robert, artist
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Abstract
The artist's statement: When did art become Art? In ancient times everything we call art today was created with a specific function, whether it was a clay pot, a necklace, a sword, tools, clothing, or any of the various items used in everyday life, all created by hand. As a horse-shoer (Farrier) I learned early on that there should be no distinction between craftsmanship and artistic prowess. While working for the company that, at the time, had the contract to shoe the Budweiser horses, one of the elderly gentleman I worked for said, "We are finesse shoers." As an artist and craftsman, I have worked with clay, charcoal, pencil, ink, acrylic, wood, stone, metal, video, photography, and even utilized animal bone in my sculptures. Printmaking can involve some or all the above in the technology known as lithography, intaglio, woodcut, and photo-lithographs. I have used bark from a Cottonwood tree to print with, married wood and stone and burned the wood and brushed it to obtain value, welded metal in both coal and gas forges and with welding equipment, hammered the metal to stretch it, texture it, gouged it and split it, using heat to color it. These sculptural processes have been translated directly into how I work with Zinc and Copper Intaglio printmaking plates. I enjoy the process of formalizing an object, capturing an image on paper, representing an abstract idea, collaging, carving, and combining as many of the materials I have mentioned into a coherent representation of a stream of consciousness. My desire is, to express my belief in the moment, of what I believe, and the wonder I perceive in that moment, according to that belief.
Description
Colorado State University Art and Art History Department capstone project.
Capstone contains the artist's statement, a list of works, and images of works.
Capstone contains the artist's statement, a list of works, and images of works.
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Subject
printmaking