GAMPI PRINT PROCESS
These images are heavily processed photographs….removing some or all of the background and isolating the subject, with a lot of adjustments to lights and darks, white balance, contrast, clarity etc. in order to print in on a non-white rice tissue paper which is the gampi.
The images are printed on two separate sheets of the gampi rice tissue paper with the exact same image printed on both sheets. Then they are perfectly aligned over each other over a light box matching up every hair, blade of grass and details so that everything is registered. This is what gives the image dimension and saturation that you could not get with a standard print.
The rice tissue paper is translucent, so to some degree you are seeing through one sheet into the other. The two sheets are fused together with a solution that adheres them and wrinkles the paper. I add to this effect by force drying it with a hair dryer and adding some creases to the paper.
The edges are deckled by carefully tearing the perimeter of the paper while it is still wet with solution. The completed piece is fastened to the custom lacquered frame with small nails in the corners of the paper. It is entirely archival, including the special glass.
SCULPTURE
Pete Zaluzec has felt a deep connection to nature throughout his life. His professional training at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago expanded his range of media to include sculpture, painting, drawing, and photography. In the past few years, he has used a non-traditional approach to sculpture with the use of stone and bronze. Most of the bronze process is done in his own studio as he believes that such attention to detail at every stage enables him to stay as true as possible to both the subject and his vision of it as an artist. His awards for his work include Best In World, Miniatures three consecutive years at the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art.