Theresa DeSalvio

Theresa DeSalvio

Home – A Virtual Exhibition of Paintings

Croton Free Library Ottinger Gallery

Curated by Mary McFerran

My exhibition Home was scheduled to take place in May and June at the Croton Free Library Ottinger Gallery.  As with everything else during this unusual time, the in-person exhibition could not take place.

Thank you, Mary McFerran, for coming up with the idea to present the exhibition as an online show.  Seeing a exhibition on a screen is not the same as the sensory experience of seeing an in-person exhibition, but these times call for unusual measures.

My paintings are rooted in everyday life, memory, and the natural world.  The female figure that is central to my imagery is a projection of myself as I explore her physical and psychological life. In creating an image, I work with both allegorical and straightforward representations of an idea, with the intent of creating an image that is at once intimate and universal. In this virtual exhibition, I have selected paintings from four related bodies of work: Girlhood, The Life and Times of the Blue Fairy, Casa Primavera, and Home. More paintings from each of these series can be viewed on this website.

Many of my paintings are inspired by life at home.  These images suggest a sense of hope and optimism.  I think of the paintings of Pierre Bonnard and Berthe Morisot as I use the rich material of everyday life. In my recent series of paintings that I call Home, I use the iconic representation of a house as both a physical and symbolic object – to hold, to carry and to reflect upon.  Ironically, I began this series in January.  As the pandemic evolved, my Home paintings took on even greater significance.  In "Close to Home" a woman/child hugs a toy size version of her home close to her heart, as the outside world closes in around her.

 These paintings are oil paint on Arches oil paint paper.  I prepare the surface with a textured coating of heavy-bodied acrylic medium before I draw on the surface with a soft willow stick.  I then proceed by painting several layers of oil paint to reach the desired saturation and density of pigment. The paintings have a rich surface texture and saturated color. Prices are available on request.

Stay well and thank you for having a look.

Best,
Theresa

                                                                               Girlhood Paintings

Girlhood takes an unsentimental look at childhood, revisiting the freedom, the physicality, and the complex world of being a young girl.




Images: Top Left: Meeting a Cow, Top Right: Throwing Jacks, Bottom Left: Bike Riding, Bottom Center: Sledding, Bottom Right: The Catch

                                                               
                                                           The Life and Times of the Blue Fairy 

I have personalized and adapted the character the Blue Fairy (from Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio), as an autobiographical stand-in. 





Images: Top Left: The Blue Fairy Listens for Change, Top Center, The Blue Fairy Bakes Cakes, Top Right: The Blue Fairy Paddles with her Dog, Bottom Left: The Blue Fairy Despairs, Bottom Right: The Blue Fairy Makes a Wish

                                                                                     Casa Primavera

These paintings are inspired by life at home.  They Suggest a sense of hope and optimism.  I think of the paintings of Pierre Bonnard and Berthe Morisot as I use the rich material of everyday life.  



Images: Top Left Inside/Outside, Top Center: Renovating an Old Home, Top Right: The Wooded Path, Bottom Left: Rolling the Dough, Bottom Right: Mother and Child (Birth During a Pandemic)

                                                                              Home

In my Home paintings, I use the iconic representation of a house as both a physical and a symbolic object to hold, to carry and to reflect upon.



Image: Top Left: Close to Home, Top Center: The Long Haul, Top Right: Uphill, Bottom Left: Close Up, Bottom Center: Dreaming of Home, Bottom Right: Held on High