Rossanne Pellegrino

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). 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. Publications the artist’s work has been part of various publications including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Catalogue, Art Seen and Women United Magazine. Pellegrino’s works are in private collections in London, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Rossanne’s distinctive documentary-style photography and her ability to employ various techniques such as embroidery on photography, photo transfer 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. Embedded within her work is a continued exploration of nostalgia, memory and identity. In her most recent series of imagery 'Strange New World', Rossanne explores memory through embroidered photography. She focuses on false memory recall where our recollections of events are adjusted, altered or even fabricated over time. Influences such as age, culture, experience and recalling our memories with what we know about the world at the time of recollection, all impact our memories. Her work also explores the movement of people and transformation of stories across generations; the passing on of family history and how recalled events can change over time. Her title image, 'Strange New World', was part of the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2018. To view Rossanne's online portfolio visit www.rossannepellegrino.com. St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex