Marisa Tesauro b. 1976 Marisa Tesauro is a body and mind moving through time and space, making us aware of what we leave behind in our contemporary world full of thrown-away objects. Her drawing, sculpture and installation are rife with concerns about the precariousness and negative impact of human systems. She uses materials of the present with a sage nod to the past. Inspired by the ruins of cities, both old and new, her work evokes buildings that once held lives and artifacts of past civilizations, ancient ruins that stand haphazardly as a backdrop amidst our modern, ever-changing world that continuously erases the present.
She has exhibited extensively in group and solo shows internationally including La Specola museum, Florence, Italy, Queens Museum of Art, New York, Eyebeam Gallery, New York, La Escoscesa, Barcelona, Spain, Stand4 Gallery, New York, Martina Simeti, Milan, Italy, Project:ARTspace, New York, Dickinson Roundll, New York, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, John. D. Calandra Institute, New York, Radiator Gallery, New York, Bronx Museum of Art, New York, Newton Art Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Patio de la Hospedería de Monasterio de San Benito, Valladolid, Spain, Casaborne Gallery, Antequera, Spain and NARS Foundation, New York City. She has exhibited site-specific installations at Hunter’s Point South, New York, Monasterace Superiore, Italy, Old American Can Factory, New York, Bay Ridge Saw, New York and No Longer Empty at the Andrew Freedman Home.
Tesauro has published two artist books, Strutture in 2012 with Content Series and Relics in the Construction of Place to document the site-specific work and research at Hunter’s Point South, 2016-17. She has participated and collaborated with archeologists working in the Magna Grecia area of Italy, given lectures relating to her research and work within the archeology field and her work is featured in La Romanizzazione Dell’Italia Ionica, Aspetti e Problemi, featuring Miti Oggi Ruderi Domani, written by Lepore, Lucia and published by the Università Degli Studi di Firenze and the Museo Di Storia Naturale. She is the recipient of a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and the Yvonne Force Award. She was formerly an artist in the Artist Pension Trust and was an artist in residence at the Queens Museum Studio in the Park, Bronx Museum of Arts, Artists in the Marketplace and received a full-fellowship from the Vermont Studio Center. Tesauro received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2001. She lives and works in Turin, Italy.
"How would an archeologist of the future make sense of material evidencing today’s consumption? I make work about our impact on the environment. My practice pulls from my experience in theater and with archeologists. I reference stage setting, archeological digs and cataloging practices. My drawings and sculptures depict discarded objects and derelict scenes. In my works on paper, I depict materials such as protective plastic nets for glass bottles and cardboard packing used in shipping. Taking inspiration from the chiaroscuro tradition and Giovanni Paolo Panini’s ironic scenes of ruins in the early 18th century, I transform banal objects and fragments into re-imagined monuments that mirror the fragility of the urban landscape. Inspired by my surroundings, the irony implicit within hulking architecture so easily destroyed and remade delights me, and I infuse it into my sculptures. I build structures with no anchor, capturing the moment where the sculpture appears to be on the brink of collapse."
Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from) and your background in the arts.
My background in the arts goes back to my childhood through performance and my interest in architecture. When I went to art school at the Rhode Island School of Design I decided to go in to the painting department, it was a very good foundation for making work and thinking about work, we had to learn a lot of technical processes and the chemistry of paint and our materials as part of the course work which has ended up helping a lot in my way of learning new processes and materials in my studio over the last 20 something years.
I started making more sculptural work during my university time and have primarily worked that way since, except that I have always done drawings and works on paper as a part of my practice. I am Italian and also American because I was born outside of Detroit, which really was by chance and does not have anything to do with my background.
What kind of work are you currently making?
I am making larger porcelain sculptures that are based on wrapped objects in different packaging materials. I am also working on a drawing series that I started over 2 years ago called Secondary Objects, water on 14x11 yupo paper.
What is a day like in the studio for you?
I usually ride my bike and get to the studio before 9am. I ride along the Po River and I check the air quality: If I can see Superga in the hills then the air quality is good, and if I can’t see Superga the air quality is not so good. I usually start my day by drawing or making scale models to get ideas out when I am not working on a specific piece.
I like to work between drawing and sculpture or installation because one informs the other. It is a dialogue that helps me make decisions and choices. I take a lot of photos as part of my process, so I often look at my photo archive if something specific pops into my head. I usually make myself lunch and eat at my table in the kitchen area and try to just be in the present without checking my phone. Some afternoons I teach language classes for a few hours, so I change roles.
What are you looking at right now and/or reading?
I am reading a book by Andrea Marcolongo who got to spend the night alone in the Acropolis called Spostare la luna dall'orbita, I am also reading Storie e leggende napoletane by Benedetto Croce which is a historical view on how the legends and stories shaped the various sides of Naples. I am also reading Designn Metaphors by Ettore Sottsass which show a lot of his photos and sketches, that are a good glimpse into his sense of humor.
I am looking at and experimenting with natural glaze recipes and also looking a lot at archeological digs, cataloging processes and objects and fragments.
Where can we find more of your work? (ex. website/insta/gallery/upcoming shows)
Website: www.marisatesauro.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marisa.tesauro/
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