.
uphill, there were the mossy forests of my childhood.
downhill, a theme park on suburban sprawl and awful architecture.
between the two: the shire. a first kiss on a bench under a plum tree. flowering?
soundtrack: cowbells, cows grazing, a stream gurgling, wind in poplars.
enchanting, flummoxing, unforgotten. but the tree, the pastures, the gardens, the bench are gone. overgrown by the theme park.
fiore ombra cenere is a monument, a palimpsest, or just a bunch of flowers. made with recycled love letters, silver gelatin prints, topographic maps, pressed cherry blossoms, aerial photographs, polaroids … the handmade paper (recycled letters) contains cherry flower and dandelion petals as well as water from the stream next to the bench.
.
three petals (gelatin silver print).
landscape with fruit trees (zokin gake).
blossoms (coloured zokin-gake).
landscape with fruit trees 2 (transfer on paper made from recycled letters and petals).
ice flowers (gelatin silver print).
.
mosaic (gelatin silver print).
aerial photograph: landscape with fruit trees (copies on large format film).
blossom clouds (zokin-gake).
branch and blossom (gelatin silver print).
from the herbary.
early blossoms of 2026 (large format transparency backed with silver paper).
aerial photograph of landscape with fruit trees (cyanotype on airmail envelope).
untitled (gelatin silver print).
.
artefacts available
prints and collages in various sizes (mostly semi-unique pieces), a postcard series, and sets of love letter paper (handmade from recycled love letters).
.
notes
a codex of letters from along the silk road, transcripts of a year worth of text messages, a plaster cast, a bouquet from van goghs imaginary japan, as well as a metal box of sketchbooks remain in a well-guarded treasure chest. not for recycling.
thanks to a master printer (father of the author of the letters) for teaching me about paper and printing through the ages. to a friend who regularly passed to save me (on his motorbike not called princesa azteca). to an anonymous librarian at the eth maps collection. to another friend for helping me find brancusi’s kiss in the snow and cold.
samples and photographs of blossoms were collected on a transect from the tessin (home of donetta) through central switzerland and zurich to basel. trees other than cherry were considered as it cannot be verified what species the tree was.
an early exploration of the theme park (the village) with my camera resulted in the series sunset over the army fuel depots. still a teenager, i submitted the work to a photo competition run by the town council. it wasn’t shortlisted.
.
.
.tissue cherry blossoms (photo booth pictures, handtinted).
.
suggested soundtrack
air. 2004. cherry blossom girl. from the album playground love.
the stream next to the bench gurgles here:
.
.
references
troels pank arbøll and sophie lund rasmussen. 2023. the ancient history of kissing.
constantin brancusi. 1905 and later. le baiser.
roberto donetta. 2011. fieno ombra cenere.
benedikt loderer: 2012. die landesverteidigung.
robert marsham. 1789. indications of spring.
meteoswiss. 1894-2026. long-term series of phenological observations: blooming of the cherry tree in liestal since 1894.
federal office of topography swisstopo. 1943 and later. aerial photographs.
federal office of topography swisstopo. 1987. national map 1:25’000.
vincent van gogh. 1887. flowering plum orchard: after hiroshige.