A Corner of Home Giovanna Petrocchi
A CORNER OF HOME
Giovanna Petrocchi
Published 19 April, 2020
In the days that have passed and the days that are to come, we'll all be spending more time indoors. A Corner of Home collects photographic studies and new works made by artists in their immediate environments; small snapshots of the impulse to create.
Edited by Trine Stephensen and Joanna Cresswell
1. Where are you living at the moment and how has that environment shaped you creatively? Can you tell us about a favourite detail of this place and why?
I live in East London with my boyfriend and our black and white cat. The flat is quite small and because I have been living in the same place since I moved here from Italy, it is full of things; some are indispensable, others a bit less so... Being aware that we are all living in this in-between state where the world is on pause has somehow allowed me to be more indulgent with myself and my work. I have been trying to adjust to this new slow-paced life by doing an activity that makes me happy at least once a day. My favourite detail of the house is a console table by the window. It is my own sanctuary of art books and plants. I left a gap in between some cacti so that my cat can jump there and spy outside early in the morning.
2. How have you looked at the materials of home differently in the past weeks? Are there parts of it that have revealed themselves to you in new ways?
I have been working from my studio for almost a year now, so having to go back to being creative from my flat was a big change for me. I managed to recover some materials and my printer before the lock-down, so I have only a few essential elements I can work with. Being confined, on one hand I don’t feel too urged to produce new work, while on the other, I feel more inclined to experiment with my practice to overcome the scarcity of materials at my disposal. Also, thanks to the familiar environment, I feel that I create work that is more instinctive and diverse. I have been using the table and walls of my living room as canvases upon which to set my collages or compositions. I have also been looking more closely at the objects, books and tools I temporarily forgot I had.
3. Tell us about how you’ve been using photography lately? What are you making or putting in front of the lens?
I have been scanning some glass slides that I collected last year from the Princeton Art Museum in America. In each slide is depicted an archaeological object, fragment or building study with its corresponding description on a side. Then I create collages onto the enlarged digital file. I am mainly interested in the process aspect: the fluidity and metamorphosis of objects and visuals.
