FEATURED ARTIST • Vincenzo Paolucci

Vincenzo Paolucci • Artist • Canada

Vincenzo Paolucci was born of Italian parents in Toronto, Canada in 1964. Having a natural fascination and ability to draw and create at age 6, this journey of art has continued for nearly 50 years. Vincenzo, a self-taught painter always had a love and instant connection to the old masters style of painting, Caravaggio, Rubens and Valasquez in particular. Specializing in figurative and portraiture, he has travelled the globe, observing the world around him and transcribing it in his own way.

As an artist for more than 40 years, colour is something that resonates through all aspects of my life. The vibration of different colours affects all areas of my being. Natural pigments have always been a mainstay of my work, especially earth pigments. When it comes to painting I believe I am a very old soul and a bit of an alchemist with my paint. In the past I have painted with pigments of finely ground Egyptian mummy, human ash, blood, meteorite, gold, diamond powder and much more.

This month’s theme being Copper resonates deeply within me, it could be that I am born on May 29th and Copper is 29th on the atomic scale, or perhaps that one of the known spiritual properties is re-birth and renewal. Being an artist I am constantly being re-born, as well as in my personal life. A great deal of my work centres around re-birth and emerging from darkness into light, so this beautiful element copper is a re-occurring tone throughout my work.

Azurite, malachite, turquoise and others are natural occurring salts of copper, forming the intoxicating patina often emerging from this other-worldly mineral. Copper’s ability to purify and eradicate harmful micro-organisms is another amazing characteristic, and it can also spiritually purify by simply viewing its radiant tone. The ancient Egyptians called gold the tears of the sun, if this is true then I believe copper is the essence of the earth.