Stephen Petegorsky: Gold Work


This work is about time, memory, change, and mortality. I am interested in combining the fleeting quality of moments we experience with photography's ability to suspend images. The pieces have been inspired by the deteriorated surfaces of old photographs and paintings, and by the pathos that is evoked when an image's connotation is transformed by the passage of time.

These pieces begin with photographs, either snapshots or digital images that are edited in Photoshop, printed with an inkjet printer, and copied onto 4 x 5" Polaroid film. The Polaroid emulsion is then lifted by immersing the print in hot water and transferred to boards that have been gilded. The boards are first coated with colored clay that acts as a support and underpainting for the gold leaf.

Each piece is unique and up to five versions of each image may be made.