Between Land & Sea | Ink rock paintings by Saverio Tonoli

Join us on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23 for a presentation of work by former A. Farm resident, Saverio Tonoli! For his presentation at A. Farm, Saverio introduces his new Rockscapes made in Vietnam as part of a five-month project that brought him to explore coastal landscapes in Taiwan, Vietnam, and Hong Kong by tracing and recording sections of cliffs and rocks. A final panoramic piece will be created along the coasts of Shek O in March 2025.

Saverio Tonoli’s Rockscapes is an ongoing series of paintings created outdoors, directly on the rocks of coastal landscapes across different countries. Made with ink on Xuan paper, this exploration has taken him to various shorelines, where he works immersed in the environment, engaging with the natural formations that define the meeting point between land and sea. The act of painting itself becomes a direct response to the chosen locations, with each piece shaped by the site’s geological characteristics, cultural context, and environmental conditions.

EVENT DETAILS

Opening and Introduction:
Date: Saturday, March 22
Time: 19:00 – 21:00
Location: Floor 6, Amanaki Hotel, 10 Nguyen Dang Giai, Thao Dien

Public Viewing:
Date: Sunday, March 23
Time: 11:00 – 16:00
Location: Floor 6, Amanaki Hotel, 10 Nguyen Dang Giai, Thao Dien

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Saverio Tonoli

February – May 2020

Saverio Tonoli is an ink painter living between Berlin and Taipei. His practice merges Eastern and Western practices, reinterpreting traditional techniques such as painting on water, fresco, and ink tapestry. Within the realm of expanded painting, his images and painting installations question the nature of painting and its display. His ongoing series Rockscapes consists of works created outdoors, directly on the rocks of coastal landscapes across different countries.

He has exhibited at the Triennale di Milano, the Biennale di Genova, Palazzo Gallone in Lecce, and MoT+++ in Saigon. He has exhibited at the Taipei Dangdai Art Fair, Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, and in projects in Zagreb, Turin, and Berlin.

ABOUT SELF ABSORBED ON ROCKS SERIES

The series Self Absorbed on Rocks emerges from Rockscapes, expanding its approach through large-scale panoramic formats and the careful selection of sites where historical, political, or environmental tensions are present. This series focuses on coastal landscapes with fluid borders, contested territories, and locations of personal, historical, or artistic significance. To date, Saverio has completed four major pieces along the coasts of Yilan, Taiwan (2019), Long Hai, Vietnam (2020), Monte Argentario, Italy (2022), and Rügen, Germany (2023). In 2025, his fifth piece will take place on the coasts of Hong Kong and the sixth on one of the dams of Venice, Italy.

These works perform painting directly onto rock formations into sweeping, site-responsive compositions. The process begins by wetting the paper over the textured surfaces of cliffs and boulders, allowing it to conform to their contours. Ink and water are then applied in rapid movements, tracing the natural fissures and voids within the stone. Drying conditions — shaped by wind, humidity, and temperature — become an essential, unpredictable factor in the final outcome. The result is an imprint of both the geological memory of the site and the fleeting moment of creation. For this series, Saverio Tonoli works with a high-performance paper made of long hemp fibers, produced specifically for the project by FENKO Catalysis Chamber, a paper research lab in Taipei.

Images from the presentation