Artist, master printmaker, etcher, sketcher and bookbinder, Raphael Fodde can often be found at the controls of a vintage 1926, hand-cranked printing press that occupies the place of honor in his studio, dead center on the floor. The press is a rarity, not merely because of its age and quality but because no other artist is known to have one: today, artists are not taught the art of printing. Fodde, however, is a rarity among artists: he studied printmaking still in high school under the tutelage of master printmaker Giorgio Upiglio in Milan, where he met and printed the works of many famous artists. Today Fodde still interprets the work of other artists on his press, as well as his own. As for Fodde’s own work, he uses pencil, crayon and ink (applied with a pen or with other objects such as a brush or a stick of wood). He views his drawings as a form of language; they function like an alphabet, as do Japanese and Chinese characters. The products of his vision are abstractions that compel the viewer to interpret the message therein. His manipulation of light, space, scale and repetition appear as textures, suggestions of mood, energy, power and mystery. Fodde has exhibited extensively in Italy, the USA and Australia.