RIDGE LINES AND TESSERAE

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This cartography of imaginary lines was born from my encounter with a manual perforating machine, which had stood still for forty years in a bookbinding workshop on the verge of closing down. The workshop was located halfway up the hill where, at the lowest point, my studio lies, and at the summit, the Roman Theatre Museum, where this work was displayed in 2022. The scored lines emerge from the marks of this territory, but they also lead us back to the folds of a book’s pages, which come to a close upon reaching the final one.

From the Latin 'tessera', 'tessella' is the term used to refer to the small cubic stones employed in the making of Roman mosaics. The word was also used to describe entrance tokens for the theatre or other leisure venues, indicating seating positions in the stands. In this case, although the word’s origin suggests a square shape, the 'tessella' was round. This piece, made of small soap cubes, marks a space between two capitals of Roman columns and evokes the idea of a mosaic fragment. However, its grid pattern also recalls a game board. Common in Roman times, such boards served not only as a form of entertainment but also carried symbolic meaning, associated with the stimulation of both mind and spirit.

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