Create! Magazine Interview
Exploring Memory, Place, and Identity: An Interview with Mixed Media Artist Rossanne Pellegrino
“Art possesses a unique ability to transport us to various times, places, and emotions. Rossanne Pellegrino, a mixed media artist based in St. Leonards-on-Sea, UK, is a master of this art form. With a rich background and a diverse array of influences, she intertwines found imagery, textiles, embroidery, and more to craft captivating works that explore themes of memory, place, and identity. In this exclusive interview, we chat with talented artist to understand her journey, inspirations, and artistic process”.
How would you describe what you do?
I am a UK-based, Australian-born mixed media artist who explores themes of memory, place and identity. All through the lens of a female who grew up in 1980s suburban Australia, raised with a mix of cultures - my mother's and father’s families immigrated to Australia from Scotland and Italy - and who is now a mother to one daughter.
What inspires the themes and subjects in your artwork or curatorial projects?
I think growing up in a family whose origins were elsewhere has influenced my work. Collecting memories like family photographs, keepsakes or holiday trinkets were all treasured documents of a new life. Storytelling and humour were important too. I also remember my grandmothers and my mum making - sewing, dressmaking, knitting, embroidering and more. A lot of this has trickled down and has found its way into my artwork. Such as my use of old photos and pre-loved objects that bear the mark of those who owned them before. And choosing to explore themes of memory, identity and place.
After having my daughter in 2016, I began incorporating embroidery on photography in my work. This was an important stage in my creative practice as I began making the work I wanted to make, using skills that are not always embraced by the fine art world, such as embroidery and sewing.What resulted was a deeper exploration into the notion of 'women's work' by using techniques such as sewing, cross-stitch and embroidery, with collage, found imagery and pre-loved objects on textiles…
