Studio

Mauro Carraro is an artist and animation filmmaker based in Geneva. Through Blue Ink & Golden Leaves Studio, he makes original works on paper, portraits and bespoke commissions. Letter to Time is at the centre of his present practice. A dial, a movement or the architecture of a tourbillon can shape the composition; handwriting may address the timepiece or become part of the image.

Blue ink carries both the construction of the object and the movement of the handwriting. A precise contour can deepen into shadow or spread into a wash. Gold leaf catches light at selected points; in works such as Atmos, white lettering can be the paper itself, protected before the ink is applied and revealed afterward. The surface holds several kinds of detail, inviting the eye to move between the whole image and the marks from which it is made.

In Atmos, letters and constellations draw the clock into a wider astronomical scene. The work has also led Carraro back to study. An FHH-certified Watch Advisor and Watch Specialist, he studies horology alongside handwriting and gilding. His work with David Grimes explores consistency in recurring words and titles; traditional gilding training in Florence and subsequent research examine the prepared surface beneath the leaf.

Portraiture brings this attention into an encounter. In live sessions, observation, conversation and drawing unfold while the sitter is present. Commissioned work asks for other scales and uses. For Montblanc, Carraro has made portraits, watch imagery and hand-drawn illustrations of personalised nibs. For Floraïku’s Sand And Skin, an original composition became an image for a perfume bottle cap. These are different responsibilities for drawing: attending to a face, describing an instrument, or carrying an image onto an object.

Carraro co-directed Matatoro with Raphaël Calamote and Jérémy Pasquet, and directed Hasta Santiago, Aubade, 59 secondes and Baroudeur. A pilgrimage, a dawn concert on Lake Geneva, memories of the Friuli earthquake and the life of a friend become distinct worlds through computer-generated animation. Watercolour-like treatment, engraving and graffiti-like surfaces give the films different visual registers.

Hasta Santiago received Annecy’s Prix Jean-Luc Xiberras de la première œuvre in 2014; 59 secondes received the Pardino d’argento at Locarno in 2017. Hasta Santiago and Aubade were nominated for the Swiss Film Award. Masterclasses, festival juries and exhibitions of production material extend this filmmaking career beyond the screen.