A veil of colour over another, like different filters over a camera lens each leaving an indelible impression of their light ­ a pale blue and sky blue, ochre yellow and the lightest shades of green and pink ­ Nino Cordio, lets flow over his plate dream-like shades almost as if he held them in suspension over images of landscapes which his memory jealously guards. Drops of pomegranates, split oranges, a sprinkling of crocus, the dahlias¹ turgid nails, hibiscus and zinnia: Cordio seems to make his colours from natural blends: the coagulum of coffee, the opalescence of almond milk, a desiccated sprig of wheat. These etchings are like a sort of continuous diary ­ the diary of an Alexandrian poet who transforms words into colours which he then crystallises on branches. What spirits inspire him? Perhaps Cordio is an alchemist and is inspired by the spirits in gold, wind and fire that peer through the coloured filters agitating them and that creep between images of sea and vineyards. It¹s no coincidence that Mount Etna and its background or the amethyst sea which extends beneath it, appear and reappear in this diary which is as festive as it is imaginative.