Portfolio of Works
A Collection of Jeweled Art Couture
She's Not There
I never met my Aunt. She died before I was born and yet she had one of the strongest influences on my life and most profoundly on my life as an artist. Even though I never met her I was surrounded by her paintings, sculpture, library of art books, albums filled with costume designs and fashion designs with swatches of fabric. I had photographs of her looking like a movie star out of a Dolce Vita film and pieces of her haute couture clothing. There were perfume bottles and even a tiny velvet address book filled with Roman phone numbers and addresses that were penciled in elegant script by her during the 1960’s. Dried flowers were pressed into the pages of her sketchbooks. In my life, she was not there and yet she was everywhere. This feeling has informed the way I paint. I’m trying to muster that feeling of being utterly consumed by the story that isn’t there and yet is everywhere between the seams of the fabric in the emotional gaze and in the imagination of the viewer.
She Sewed Me A Secret
I remember my Nonna's hands. She had beautiful hands and when I think of them stitching for hours on end I imagine every story in her almost 100 years of life. When I take inspiration from haute couture, I imagine dresses being worn throughout history and the secrets of the women who wore them. I imagine the places they went to and the whispers of stories they heard. Nothing holds a secret like a well-worn dress. These are the stories I paint.
La Dolce Vita
In the height of La Dolce Vita my family managed to carve out a niche in Rome's fashion world with nothing but a lucky ring to pawn. My father's fashion designs and his love of life inspire me to celebrate the tradition of art and haute couture that is passed down from generation to generation. We never got that ring back because I believe the good fortune was meant to travel on to everyone it touched. I like to think that a bit of that good fortune and the spirit of La Dolce Vita is here embedded in the paintings.
The oil paint and the precious metal, 24k gold leaf and genuine platinum leaf, reflect differently as light passes along the surface of these jeweled figure paintings. The figures and the dresses alternate appearing and disappearing in a push and pull dance. Light helps tell the story that is hidden between the seams of these art couture paintings.
Inspired by high fashion logo dresses from Valentino to Gucci but using my initials. This painting is also inspired by my father's legacy. The hand gesture is a symbol that he trademarked in Italy during La Dolce Vita for his clothing label and in the painting the woman is holding a logo charm made from my initials. The gold leaf pattern is also reminiscent of chain link armor fitting of a woman's high fashion power suit.
For more about the story behind my work: see the ARTIT Interview Here
and my bio: Here
