Artist Interview with Francesco Geronazzo

An intimate conversation with the Margaret River-based printmaker about walking, memory, and the poetic dialogue between place and craft.

Discover the inspiring story of Francesco Geronazzo, an Italian-born artist and printmaker based in Margaret River, Western Australia. In this conversation, Francesco shares how his lifelong passion for printmaking grew from his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna to his current work bridging traditional craft with contemporary experimentation. Learn how Francesco (Frank) transforms walking, nature, and printing into a poetic dialogue between place, movement, and memory. His unique process combines etching, silent performance, and sculpture, reflecting deep connections with both his Italian roots and the Australian landscape. Francesco also discusses his collaborative projects, his international studios in Italy and Australia, and his ongoing mission to build a global creative community through Margaret River Printmaking. If you value thoughtful art that explores the intersection of nature, memory, and craftsmanship, this interview offers an uplifting glimpse into an artist deeply attuned to his surroundings. Featured Artist: Francesco Geronazzo Presented by: Proartika | www.proartika.com Locations: Perth and Margaret River (Australia) www.margaretriverprintmaking.com

If you are keen on learning from Francesco go to our COURSES page and join the Experimental Monotype Printmaking Course with Francesco Geronazzo (click here).

Early Passion: From High School Etching to Buying a Press at 16

Proartika: Francesco, you've been passionate about printmaking since you were a teenager. How did it all begin?

Francesco Geronazzo: Hi everyone, my name is Francesco Geronazzo, even though in Australia everybody calls me Frank. I'm Italian, I was born near Venice. I've been here in Australia, in Margaret River, since 2013.​

I always loved printmaking since I was in high school. I had a very, very good teacher who, during drawing class, showed us traditional etching methods. I really loved it since day one. I think he understood that, and he was letting me do etching during the drawing class when I was 14 and 15.​

I always kept on exploring the process, and instead of buying a motorbike, I bought an etching press when I was 16. Since then, I've kept on doing it as much as I could.​

Bologna, Porto, and Spain: Learning from the Masters

Proartika: After high school, you studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna. What was that experience like?

Francesco Geronazzo: After high school, I went to Bologna because the Academy of Fine Arts is very, very strong with printmaking. Giorgio Morandi was teaching there, along with other amazing masters. I did six years of printmaking with different teachers—all very good—and I learned different approaches: very traditional and very experimental and contemporary.​

During university, I went to Porto, Portugal, for a seven-month assistantship with Graciela Machado, who is a very good printmaker in Portugal and Europe. She taught me different ways to approach the work, and I loved that period because I also learned the language.​

I also studied printmaking in Spain with José Manuel Broto, a great lithography teacher and artist, and Miguel Ángel Blanco, another amazing artist.​

Founding Officina de la Stampa and Moving to Australia

Proartika: You founded Officina de la Stampa in Bologna in 2010. What inspired that, and what brought you to Australia?

Francesco Geronazzo: In 2010, we started Officina de la Stampa in Bologna, a printmaking studio offering classes. In 2014, when I left for Australia, I really wanted to connect with the rest of the world. That was so important for me. So, on top of loving nature, I came to Australia to learn the language and know more about the Australian printmaking environment.​

Connecting with the Land: Quiet Performances in the Bush

Proartika: Your "Connecting with the Land" project is fascinating. Can you explain how it works?

Francesco Geronazzo: "Connecting with the Land" is a project I started in 2020-21 to honour my introvert side and also my immigrant identity. It was a way to connect with the country and the culture that I didn't know, and potentially still don't know as much.​

Conceptually, I screwed metal plates onto my boots, and I go for walks in the bush, 5 to 10 kilometres each, following different paths like the water pass or the Waddy Track. It's a way for me to receive marks on the plate and then show them on paper. I really wanted to honour my true passions: bush walking and printmaking.​

Proartika: Why do you call them "quiet performances"?

Francesco Geronazzo: I call them quiet performances after a chat with a great artist called Jackie Chang. A performance is normally related to a public, but I'm usually by myself in the bush, walking solo. That's why the name "quiet", even though the noise of the metal through the bush is actually not as quiet as a normal shoe!​

Working with Found Paper and Memory

Proartika: You work with both pristine cotton paper and found paper. What draws you to old documents and maps?

Francesco Geronazzo: I normally love to print on great cotton paper, brand new, to honour the quality of what I do. At the same time, I also love to work on very old and used pieces of paper: old documents, notes, notebooks, maps, and different kinds of paper that I find, or that find me.​

I like to think that sometimes paper finds you more than you find the paper. I love the memory that piece of paper already has, the life it's already lived. It would potentially be thrown in the bin, but I like to give it life again and work with that memory.​

Proartika: How has becoming a father influenced your work?

Francesco Geronazzo: I have a series on local maps I found here from the Shire. It's funny, since my daughter was born, I started looking at so many pink things around me because she obviously loves pink. When I saw those maps, I thought about the combination of colours.​

It was a big change in my practice because traditionally we just work with black. Since coming to Australia, I felt far enough from my teaching system and teachers, I felt comfortable enough to explore colours, especially colours I would never have chosen before having a daughter.​

Repetition, Flora, and Sculptural Work

Proartika: Repetition and local flora appear throughout your work. How do these themes connect?

Francesco Geronazzo: These are cross-sections of the balga tree, the core of the plant. Repetition is also a component of printmaking, even though we love unique states. There's a presence of local flora on top of these local maps.​

Proartika: You've been experimenting with fabric and mixed media. Tell us about your "Surroundings" series.

Francesco Geronazzo: Recently, I've loved the idea of starting with a photo and then keep working. In this series, the pieces are made on calico fabric, so I can stretch them on a structure.​

Traditionally, after the print, you don't touch it. But this goes completely against that concept, because after the first print, that's where I start to work. I add marks with charcoal, lithographic crayons, monoprinting, and thread, which becomes a mark I leave on the piece as well.​

It's a series called "Surroundings," and they're all about the local area, what I see every time I go bush walking around here. The fabric component opens up endless opportunities because the limit of the press isn't there anymore. You can work on modules that can become a full backdrop for a theater or something like that.​

Ink and Thread: Connecting with Community

Proartika: You worked with DADAA, an organization supporting people with disabilities in the arts. How did that influence your practice?

Francesco Geronazzo: We did a three-year project with DADAA called "Ink and Thread." Obviously, we were doing printmaking, and the thread was about connecting with communities.​

Using thread in what I do at the moment also comes from that project and from wanting to connect with Western Australia and the community here. It's a way for me to leave a mark that isn't made by an etching tool or printed, it's a direct action I do onto the material.​

From Printmaking to Sculpture: A Natural Connection

Proartika: Your sculptural work with balga tree cores is striking. How does sculpture relate to your printmaking practice?

Francesco Geronazzo: I love working in two dimensions on a metal plate, but at the same time, I'm attracted to sculptural shapes. These are all casts, the core of the grass tree called balga or xanthorrhoea. I don't know why I'm doing them, but I'm attracted to these shapes and to the texture, which is very similar to the texture I love in printmaking.​

Historically, a printmaker was closer to a sculptor than to a painter. A painter adds on top of the canvas, but we, printmakers and sculptors, both take off the matter of the plate or the shape. There's a similar approach. That's why I naturally got into sculptures as well.​

Proartika: Tell us about "A Temple for the Locals."

Francesco Geronazzo: I did a project called "A Temple for the Locals," funded by the Farm Margaret River, which empowers and promotes ephemeral art projects. With these cross-sections, I made eight columns. I wanted to generate a conceptual place to go and meditate, like a proper church or temple.​

Margaret River Printmaking: Building a Global Community

Proartika: Tell us about Margaret River Printmaking. What's your vision for this space?

Francesco Geronazzo: Margaret River Printmaking is not just a physical place, it's a place where thinking and going beyond the normal conventional way is honoured. I offer classes here with different processes and in different art centres in Western Australia.​

I also run printmaking retreats in Italy. For three years now, I've been bringing Australian people, and people from the USA, to Italy for exclusive week-long events. They learn about printmaking and also about our culture: food, wine, and art. It's definitely growing every year.​

We also offer symposiums, which is a different format—by invitation only. I invite an artist to come and work with me, and we generate a body of work. The final project becomes a folio of prints by different artists that I release to collectors and institutions.​

Advice for Emerging Printmakers: Curiosity and Discipline

Proartika: What advice would you give to students and practitioners starting out in printmaking?

Francesco Geronazzo: I believe that my teachers were very good printmakers and very passionate people. If you're passionate as a teacher, you release passion in other people. Just inspiring others by your authenticity, more than telling them what to do, is important. That's boring for kids and adults.​

One piece of advice: be curious, very curious, and very disciplined as well. Discipline these days sounds like a very strong and boring word, but it's a very important approach to have. It doesn't have to be every day, but when you work, discipline can help you reach very good results.