'I use the marble as a way to utilize mark-making. On top of richly patterned marbles, I paint monochrome negatives of parenthesis marks. In diptych form, they are a suggestion of opening and closing, allowing the viewer to imagine their own contents within the succession of beginning and end. I am really interested in the reference to language – parenthesis gives extra information or context to sentences. In a similar manner, this series is an attempt to add extra context to painting. Using the background texture, premade by nature, and imposing areas of monochrome on top, I am playing with the hierarchy of background and foreground within painting. Other works in the series play with the ambiguity of language and the symbols that create it. The simple ‘(’ parenthesis mark is rotated, forming a smile. Other parenthesis marks seem to become moustaches, music notes or utensils.'

- Gabriele de Santis