November 7 - 30

2014

 

Speakeasy Art Gallery' s exhibit by New Jersey artist Amy Puccio, featuring wood sculptures created as wall reliefs. These eco-friendly, puzzle-like, mosaics are created from unused and discarded picture frame moulding.
“While working as a picture framer eight years ago, the original concept behind my artwork was born out of frustration at having to throw away so many unusable lengths of wood. After cutting them down into small pieces, many hundreds to over a thousand of these piecesaresorted, and meticulously placed and glued, in a mix of scale-bending, depth, texture, and negative space. I love how each project presents new challenges and exciting possibilities.”
Puccio presents “The Ties that Bind: An exploration of Connection.” While the works may seem to hint at a personal narrative, the story can only be told by the viewer.
“I am drawn to everyday objects. A zipper isaconnector, but enlarged on the wall like a cropped photograph, it takes on new meaning; An old fashioned door chain that connects two things in an obvious way but also, may spark the viewer’s memory: a connection to one’s past. Handcuffs as a literal object of bondage, or, as in “It’s Complicated,” an analogy for the unsteady terrain of relationships.”
Items found in a home improvement center; the DNA that resides in every cell of our bodies; to love and be loved: These are the ties that bind us all together.
Art critic Ralph J. Bellantoni recently wrote, “Puccio applies an eclectic arsenal of topical knowledge to the making of her distinctive wooden wall sculptures. A former research chemist, she melds her scientific insights with carpentry skills and ecological sensitivity, creating mosaics that shift, ooze, flicker and soar.” A recent inductee into the National Association of Women Artists in NYC, Puccio is a self-taught artist who exhibits her work throughout NJ and NY.