Valeria Gasparrini
Artist, illustrator
About
Valeria Gasparrini ( Rome, 1964), was formed thanks to a rich contribution of artistic and literary experiences: classical studies, research in ceramics, painting, fresco, engraving, drawing from life; attended the three-year course of illustration at the IED, and was trained in the graphic engraved at the Stamperia del Tevere , in Rome. Today she works as an artist, as an advertising illustrator and freelance editorial, as a teacher of drawing, visual and illustration at Quasar Design University, the Academy of Fine Arts of L'Aquila ABAQ, the American University in Rome AUR. He draws live in theatrical performances, and realizes performances with stage machines of various nature that builds and animates on stage. As an artist he has participated in personal and collective exhibitions, and passionately dedicates himself to the creation of artist’s books, combining his remarkable illustrative nature with the infinite expressive possibilities of engraving techniques.
He has exhibited in Rome, Milan, Bologna, Faenza, Venice, Paris, Luxembourg, Rothemburg. Some of his works are part of permanent exhibitions, such as the ceramic work "Rain" at the International Museum of ceramics in Faenza, the artist book "How many irreplaceable lives", exhibited at the national library of Luxembourg, and its printed version exhibited at the Casa della Memoria in Rome.
They wrote about here
Daniele Scalise, Loris Schermi, Francesca Tuscano, Michèle Wallenborn, Devin Kovach, Sarah Linford, Gianluca Tedaldi. Valeria Bertesina. For interested people, I am writing to offer the highest recommendation for Valeria Gasparrini who has held two engraving workshops for the Rome Center of Architecture and Culture at Woodbury University which I direct. He guided the students' works, taking them from the initial drawings to the creation of the definitive prints and their possible display in an exhibition. I find her one of the most creatively contagious and inspiring people with whom I have had the opportunity to collaborate. Let me take the liberty of offering a few details regarding his remarkable abilities. To begin with, she is a very competent artist in her field. She is also generous in sharing her experience and does so with great enthusiasm. In the initial phase of the projects he offers numerous approaches, both experimental and conventional, with the aim of giving birth to works of art that can then be created on slabs. In the workshops we used zinc and copper plates, and the results were surprising. It featured field sketching exercises, complex mapping projects, and digital plate file translations. It has provided Woodbury with some of the most powerful and transformative learning experiences students have had in Rome; also in relation to what they do at home. Our students love her and she has been there for them every step of the way, teaching them techniques to achieve their creative goals. It is a magical moment when the students complete the drawings, prepare the plates, ink them working in their studio. And then they print them. This would not have been possible for us without Valeria's expertise. Thank you for the opportunity to offer a great recommendation for Valeria and I would be happy to discuss her merits further should you wish to contact me at my email: paulette.singey@gmail.c
Best regards Paulette Singley Woodbury University professor, Director of the Rome Center for Architecture and Culture
Softground
The softground is an indirect chalcographic technique: that is, it needs the corrosive action of the acid to obtain the marks on the matrix; signs that will be subsequently inked and then printed. The technique of softground is a technique that allows to reproduce in the engraved graphic a stroke interpreted, soft and grainy like that of a pencil. It also allows to reproduce the texture of a fabric, the roughness of some types of paper, the tiny details of the skeleton of a leaf. Perceives and returns the minimum pressure of the mark, the more or less soft quality of a mine, the intensity of the stretch pressure. It is a fascinating technique, which has the advantage of clearly showing the evolution of the design during processing, and the disadvantage of creating a matrix that before being acid is fragile and delicate.
In softground the metal plate that acts as a matrix is coated with a thin layer of wax that does not harden completely (hence “soft”), and then covered with a sheet of tissue paper, on which the design will be made. For each mark that is made in pencil on the tissue the wax below adheres to the paper and detaches from the plate, discovering the metal. The ceramolle is sensitive to the intensity of the pressure of the mine, so it will be possible to bring back on the plate the differences of sign, as in a traditional pencil drawing. All weft shapes are also shown by pressing. Once the drawing is done the tissue is removed, the plate is put in acid and then printed.