DANCING WITH THE ELEMENTS: POL PETRINO'S PAINTING

As the summer heat ignites the high season in Volterra, we are delighted to announce our collaboration with the young, multidisciplinary Italian artist Pol Petrino, presenting a selection of his abstract, earthy paintings. Silent and vibrant, these works draw inspiration from mythological stories, impressions of landscapes, and the dance of the four elements. Earth, water, air and fire were the first substances to emerge at the beginning of creation, and are at the core of Petrino’s artistic investigation.

Using locally sourced stones and soils as mediums, the artist’s practice includes painting, site-specific installations, sculpture, and performance, all exploring the synergy between human beings and Mother Nature. The stones and minerals he collected during his long-distant travels across Aboriginal traditional lands in Australia and wild territories in Asia and Europe serve as his primary source through which he expresses his vision, encompassing a return to the practice of engaging with the earth as a raw material and a reminder both of the beauty and the vulnerability of our surroundings.

Petrino's perception of nature is distilled into minimalistic and geometric forms. The resulting paintings achieve a harmonious balance between empty and filled spaces, while highlighting inner materiality and tactile qualities. They embrace the principles of abstract representation, with a particular emphasis on the organic and instinctive gestures of the artist. Repetition, rituals and movement, as an intrinsic expression of life, create a dance of energy that binds the artist to the rhythms of nature.

Geometric shapes, lines, and circles traverse or occupy the center of the compositions, suggesting traces of a lived experience and mappings of specific locations. These elements reflect the artist's commitment to capturing their intricate geography of the places he travels to, encompassing their natural landscapes, their traditional objects, people and their continuous transformations over time.

“Made from ocean-sourced materials, both alien and yet entwined with the land and its people, my paintings carry the stories of non-indigenous inhabitants, safeguarding and sharing the essence of local culture."

“I have seen them riding seaward on the waves, combing the white hair of the waves blown back, when the wind blows the water white and black.” - T.S. Eliot

By crashing and layering stones onto a canvas, Petrino creates unique colours and rich textures that animate his paintings, giving them a delicate and refined surface. Reflections of light, traces of the artist’s gestures, and memories of the sun's warmth on skin are woven into these canvases. Thanks to his use of pigments derived from sedimentary rocks primarily composed of quartz and feldspar, as well as iron-rich sandstones, these works reveal earthy hues in shades of yellow, red, and brown.

In recent years, he has traveled widely, immersing himself in diverse cultures that profoundly differ from his own. Petrino's corpus of work includes series such as Gadigal, Songlines, and Walidwipa, each inspired and titled after the local, authentic and anthropological landscapes where they were conceived and created. Overall cangiante, though conceptually monochrome, each painting is filled with the soul of the place of creation through the characteristic hints of colour and texture. 

"In new landscapes, the ground always speaks to me first. As I touch it, I feel a quiet continuity — soil that has witnessed generations, forming a connection beyond time."

Deeply influenced by his main professor at the University of Mendrisio, internationally renowned architect Bijoy Jain, Pol Petrino's (1996) work transcends its mere aesthetic qualities to convey a profound reverence for humanity's coexistence with nature. It acts as a bridge between modernity and ancestral wisdom, embodying timeless messages that invite reflection on our role within life's complexities, fostering respect for the land as our first home, and our belonging to a greater whole. At the threshold of his career, Petrino's work has been exhibited in many group exhibitions in Switzerland, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Indonesia.

Continue the journey to discover Pol's art and vision - watch the following poetic short documentary on his first landscape performance in Bali:

C R E D I T S :

Photography of Pol Petrino and artworks details: Flavio Brancaleone, Courtesy of the Artist

Video Sinergy Rituals by Pol Petrino: Courtesy the Artist

Quotes: Pol Petrino, T.S. Eliot

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