Italian artist Carlo Proietto has been a forerunner in elevating the technique of pyrography (the art of decorating wood with heated tools or flame) into a fine art form. Proietto’s monochromatic creations, at times offset by solitary splashes of color, are defined by his careful use of line and form within judiciously composed surreal scenes. Lines are clean against visually stark tableaux, lending a sense of drama to the overall effect. A strong energy underlies the two-dimensional look of this stylistic approach, fleshing each figural composition out in a burst of passionate expressionism.

Within his pyrographic art, Proietto is able to create an entirely new mythology reflective of the human experience within the highly urbanized, industrial context of the modern world. In his work, we see glimpses of humans struggling with the mechanisms of the outer world. Amid the imposed order of straight lines and geometric forms, chaos and tension persist as his subjects continue an internal struggle to come to terms with the world into which they have been born.