Matthew Palladino
For those who may be discovering your work for the first time, could you introduce yourself and your practice?
My name is Matthew Palladino, I'm a 40 year old artist from the United States, born and raised in San Francisco, California, currently living in La Paz, Bolivia. My work focuses around two main mediums, watercolor and ink on paper and 3D designed and printed relief sculpture. My original love was watercolor on paper, of which I learned the basics in art school from an old master, after which I developed my own distinct style. I became enamored with it as a medium for painting, due to its delicate and unforgiving nature, its glowing transparency and how it has its own mind in what it wants to do.
Can you tell us how Spanish Moon Moth was developed and what the process looked like?
A family member, who is a birder, became interested in moths and invited me to go "mothing" with her, which essentially involved setting up a high powered light bulb and a white sheet in her backyard at night, and letting the moths come to us. I had never given much thought to moths or any insects before this, but being able to observe them up close, I was transfixed with the incredible variety of patterns and odd colors they had. I was immediately inspired to paint them, as you really look at something when you paint it from life, and the more I looked the more mysterious and novel their colors and patterns seemed, movements in creation I would never have thought of and still try to wrap my mind around. The Spanish Moon Moth was a unique one as I had never seen one in real life, but it has a special formation to the wings and colors I hadn't seen in any other moth.
What techniques or materials were key in creating this image?
I use a mix of watercolor and acrylic ink, depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. The watercolor has a more diverse palette and gives me access to many different pigments quickly, but is somewhat impermanent and can be lifted by water after it dries. The acrylic ink is very permanent and lightfast, allowing me to layer washes of color as well as achieve extremely vibrant and solid color as well as fades. I never use any tape or masking in my work, though I do draw the image out with pencil before painting.
What are you currently working on, or what would you like people to look out for next?
I'll continue to explore watercolor and ink, but I have a new interest in painting on fabric as my wife and partner Claudia Ratay works in textiles, and we will be collaborating on some projects in the near future. You can find her on instagram at @zwaazotextiles and for my watercolor and relief work you can find me at @palladingdong .