Cocchiarelli: Is that due to your technique of using sfumato? Blurring the edges of the images to create an ambiguous effect?

Petracca: Yes, the public might get something totally different out of it. It is also possible that somebody might see the work as an enforcement of their idea of stereotyping. That’s because the idea of stereotype is in there. It’s a tricky business; in some ways I am opening a Pandora’s box. I have been asked this question: Aren’t you reinforcing stereotypes? I answer that it’s important enough to take a chance. A good example of someone from another culture is Kara Walker, an African American artist who uses stereotypes almost exclusively. These are cut outs—silhouettes of?

Cocchiarelli: Reenactments of slave scenes? These were in her early works.

Petracca: Yes. Slave scenes that are antebellum and have obvious negative implications towards African American culture and are very loaded images. In a way she is addressing similar concerns—commenting on the absurdity of stereotypes. She is commenting on how stereotypes rob a culture of its uniqueness. I believe we both use a common strategy—we both show the stereotypes in their completeness in order to help people begin to think about their relationship with the stereotype. If I were from a different school of thought I would go into an Italian American neighborhood and depict through my work how nice it is to live there by incorporating positive images. However, I wouldn’t be challenging myself or possibly helping to solve what I wanted to solve. I want to be direct and honest in my approach. I enjoy the positive approach too, and go to many shows that deal with up-lifting aspects of our culture, but it’s really not how I see the world.

Cocchiarelli: In terms of your Pompeii series who is the figure in the print Villa of the Mysteries? (See page 14.)

Petracca: Toto. He is sort of the Charlie Chaplin of Italy. He plays the bumbling idiot (the Southern Italian). The image comes from Vittorio De Sica’s The Gold of Naples.

Cocchiarelli: It is such a beautiful piece because you combine an element of contemporary culture with one drawn from ancient Pompeii in a seamless unity. Where does this idea come from?

Petracca: It was from an article about a festival in Little Italy that showed the poster of Toto the clown and his relatives shoving pasta down their pants pockets. Although funny, it was very negative to the point that many Italian American politicians complained in writing and newspapers carried their grievances.

Cocchiarelli: Would you say that this was a pivotal moment in your series?

Petracca: Yes, although I had other interests at the time, this article and Mayor Bloomberg wanting to have his friends from The Sopranos march in the Columbus Day Parade really bothered me--. I remember remarks that people made in print suggesting we (Italian Americans) were too sensitive, that it wasn’t such a big deal, etc.. It should be a big deal. I was starting to get tired of it, and at the same time, jokes my friends told... I remember being angry at the relentless advertising in magazines, newspapers, and television for The Sopranos. Everything reached a climax, and what transpired was a cathartic moment in which I realized that I had the power to change these images.