Gina Matarazzo writes, “Animals capture my imagination in a way that temporarily frees me from the constraints and narrow-mindedness of the human condition. Through them I see possibilities, truths on how to be more genuine, try to listen to what really matters in life and find joy. We all have the world thrust upon us with all its difficulties, challenges and hardships. My work is meant to take you away from all of that for a moment and remember how there is happiness and beauty available all around us if only we stop and take notice.”
Between Dreams, oil on gessoboard, 10 x 8"
We don’t pay much attention to the cute, sometimes annoying, little creatures that nibble at our flower and vegetable gardens, run hurriedly to hide on our forest walks or, perhaps, drop an acorn on our heads. Taking a moment, or a few, to stop and observe, Matarazzo finds them busy in the moment, unfettered by the past, perhaps storing food for the future, living “simply and seemingly contentedly with only the things they need. Who doesn’t at some point in their life wish for that kind of unattachment to things—to be happier with less?”
Claudia in the Airy Eve, oil on Arches watercolor paper, 4½ x 3½"
Menagerie, an exhibition of her latest paintings, will take place at Abend Gallery in Denver from October 6 through 30.
Her creatures are often surrounded by the splendor of nature’s abundance and sometimes clothed in Victorian finery. The colorful abundance displays their oneness with nature and their finery suggests individual personalities of animals who live with more than instinct.
The Spirit Guide, oil on gessoboard panel, 10 x 8"
The designer of album covers for artists such as Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Glen Phillips and Peter Tork, she now designs books for Bookbaby. But she continues to be captured by the pursuit of a “magical way of looking at ordinary things.”
Archibald P. Fuzzbottom, oil on gessoboard panel, 7 x 5"
In The Spirit Guide, an acorn and flowers remain a constant as a squirrel dematerializes as its spirit self. “I imagine spirit guides as being split between two worlds of flesh and spirit,” she explains. “At the same time, our eyes see them in the human perception of the world, but our hearts ‘see’ them in their animal perception of the world. The acorn represents the crossover between those worlds where our spirits would meet. When our two perceived worlds are separate, we would only see the acorn the squirrel is holding floating around, but if we are in tune and open to the animal spirit world, we know why the acorn is floating.” —
Abend Gallery
1261 Delaware Street, Suite 2 • Denver, CO 80204
(303) 355-0950 • www.abendgallery.com
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