In keeping with my resolve to post more of the artist’s own words (when available), I give you Sarah Petruziello’s statement about the work in this gorgeous pencil portfolio.

I create large-scale self-portrait drawings using pencil on paper. These drawings are meticulously-rendered, elaborately staged and illustrative works that use dramatic and expressive poses as well as visceral symbolism as a conduit for both personal and universal narratives.

Truthfully, I create my self-portrait drawings out of a compulsion to document and compartmentalize both fleeting thoughts and emerging prescience. Although some of my drawings can be construed as social commentaries, I do not view art as a catalyst for the transformation of society or as having the ability in itself to make social change. Rather I see art as a reflection of society which we can use as a means to identify and delineate our own beliefs and views, our own stories, and personal histories. By using the traditional medium of pencils on paper, I purposefully disengage from technology to find a more fundamental and corporeal means to explore private subjects and thoughts; by the use of the self-portrait, I am seeking a candid and sometimes awkward intimacy with my drawings.

Sarah Petruziello