ARTIST BIO
Rossanne Pellegrino is an Australian mixed media artist who grew up in Adelaide, lived in London and is now based in St. Leonards-on-Sea (UK).
Pellegrino studied Visual Communications (Photography) at the University of Arts (South Australia) as part of an International Studies degree and Diploma of Language at Flinders University (1998 - 2004). Since graduating in 2004, she has exhibited nationally and internationally.
With found imagery as her basis, Pellegrino uses collage to intervene and change the images’ original meaning. Materials such as textiles, embroidery, household items, children’s toys and sweets, and handmade clay replicas of found objects appear in her work. Pellegrino also uses colour palettes from the technicoloured hues of MGM Studio ‘Saturday Matinee’ movies from her childhood, sherbet tones from 1960’s musicals and the hazy-faded quality of old photographs from family albums.
Pellegrino’s use of various techniques such as embroidery on photography, printmaking and Polaroid manipulation have resulted in a diverse body of work; from black and white photojournalism to expressive imagery that blurs the border between photography and the handcrafted.
Pellegrino has exhibited her work in the UK, Australia and Europe including at Royal Academy of Arts, Tate gallery, Royal College of Art, Hastings Museum and Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Photography (Australia) and more. The artist’s work has been part of various publications including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Catalogue, Tate Staff Biennale catalogue (front cover), Art Seen, Women United Magazine and ‘PROOF’ for the Northern Centre for Contemporary Art (Darwin, Australia). In 2023, she received a scholarship to develop one of her creative projects with the European Cultural Academy, Venice.
Pellegrino’s works are in private collections in London, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a UK-based, Australian-born mixed media artist exploring 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 in the 1950s - and who is now a mother to one daughter.
I am a bowerbird for art materials. Old photographs, vintage textiles and pre-loved objects are incorporated in my work using collage, embroidery and sewing. All to create works on paper, 3-dimensional collages and textile wall hangings. I use bold colours, pastel hues, humour and unexpected objects - such as domestic items, pompoms and glitter - to explore themes in an accessible way.
There were lessons intrinsically passed on through my family's immigration experiences that are apparent in my work. Storytelling and humour were important. So was mending and making do. Collecting memories like family photographs, keepsakes from their ship journey to Australia or holiday trinkets were all treasured documents of a new life. Assessing the cultural lay of the land and adapting accordingly were essential. This all trickled down and 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.
With found imagery as my basis, I use collage on paper and on textiles to intervene and create new possibilities for the images' subjects. Often with women as the focus of my found imagery, I have made commentary on my observations on the changing - or unchanging - views of women's roles in society, tradition, motherhood and identity (https://www.rossannepellegrino.com/play-at-home-mum-20212022).
More recently, I have explored the skills traditionally considered 'women's work' or ‘just craft’, through textile wall hangings inspired by Suffragette banners (https://www.rossannepellegrino.com/nowallflower).
St. Leonards-on-Sea / United Kingdom
