To date, Rosini di Santi said he has crafted nearly 300 tire paintings. The “sculpture of the tire”—the geometric designs—is what brought him to a scrap yard to find tires as a medium on which to work.
As he began to work with scrap tires, he said he thought tire companies had found “anonymous artists to create these designs” in the tire treads because he found them quite artistic, encompassing the spirit of an artist. Rosini di Santi selects his tires because he has seen something in them that no one else has.
Some tires surprise him more than others.
“I discovered a world of calculations, gum streaks, curves,” he said, that could create “an infinite world of possibilities to redefine painting.”
Rosini di Santi's paintings are on display mostly in Cannes, but he has sold pieces around the world to private collections.
In the future, he would like to create on a larger format using an industrial or off-the-road tire to create art installations. He also noted that through his research, he has seen a number of tire recycling ideas and was “delighted for the environment,” because although he does recycle some scrap tires, he could not save them all through his “mode of expression.”
“Art embodies a vision of the world,” he said. “It can change the look we have on our daily lives and our existence.”