In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Peter Soriano spread acetate sheets across his studio floor and applied wet ink. Working in the confined space, he found himself repeatedly stepping on the sheets before they could dry. These accidental footprints, born of necessity rather than design, became essential to the composition. This printmaking represented another evolution for Soriano, who had moved from large biomorphic sculptures in polyester resin in the 1990s to wall installations using spray paint. Here, his process draws from both Hokusai’s Great Wave off Kanagawa (1831) and Titian’s The Submersion of the Pharaoh’s Army in the Red Sea (1514), seeking what he calls “the finger like grasp of Hokusai’s Great Wave.” The resulting work transforms accident into elegy, where unintended footfalls become as significant as any deliberate gesture.
--The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY