Most of my work focuses on self-portraits, but as an extension of self-portraits, I recently began this series of fingerprints. This series was conceived when my grandmother was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. As the matriarch of our family, she was a large part of my Italian upbringing. We share a name, Francesca Martino, among many other common traits. From her passing in late March, I began thinking about the ways that those around you influence who you become. My family has been essential in forming and polishing me into the person I am today. This piece becomes representative of this relationship in the way that everyone’s fingerprints are unique in design, yet they carry similar histories and relationships as those to whom they are related. The fingerprint is used in everyday life to the point that it loses value. This project brings that value and weight of identity back to the fingerprint in creating a communal identity instead of an individual one.

​

The two fingerprints in the series consist of: (1) from cut and sanded plywood and (2) from a screen-print flocked with sawdust on sheer fabric. The wooden fingerprint is representative of the strong, wooden foundation that is our family. With this, the viewer can also see layers of the different kinds of woods to create the plywood—reminiscent of the layers of our family’s histories. The pieces of gold leaf represent those people within my family that are prominent parts of my life. The gold also becomes reminiscent of the Italo-Byzantine and early Renaissance use of gold-leaf in the panels and fresco paintings.

​

The fingerprint on the sheer material reflects those people in our family that have passed away, or are no longer with us. Through this, the reflection of the material onto the wall becomes a representation of what they have left behind for the living, including their memories, stories, and photos. The fingerprint was flocked with sawdust, to instill the stability and tradition of the wooden fingerprint.