Sitting on a kitchen counter, fruit is often seen as commonplace, but in Carrie Di Costanzo’s upcoming exhibition, she invites viewers to slow down and marvel at the quiet beauty fruit and botanicals exude. In her new exhibition, opening this July at George Billis Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut, the artist will display still life works in egg tempera. The show features 13 paintings depicting various compositions of fruit she painted from life.
In crafting the works for this exhibition, the artist picked fruit from her husband’s family farm in Italy and arranged them in her studio to her liking. She then started the process of carefully sketching them in India ink before layering her egg tempera paints until the fruits on the panel were as illuminated as the ones before her.
Summer Peaches, egg tempera on panel, 12 x 16 in.
“On the farm, they have fig trees, grapevines and lemon trees, which are beautiful,” says Di Costanzo. “The thing about fruit is that I can set up lemons or an orange or apples, and they will stay for a long time. The problem with flowers is that they change rapidly…I remember doing tulips, but I had to photograph them and mostly work from the photographs because the petals started falling off. I love to paint from life, so with the fruits, they could stay in my studio for a good 10 days, and they are right in front of me.”
Figs in a Bowl, egg tempera on panel, 11¾ x 6¼ in.
Di Costanzo’s interest in botanical art was piqued after viewing the Highgrove Florilegium exhibit, which featured watercolor paintings of plants found in the British Royal Family’s gardens.
“That started me on a journey with botanical art in particular, which eventually transitioned into still life painting," she says. “I used watercolor and gouache for many years—wonderful mediums. But about 10 years ago, I had that feeling where I wanted to try something different.”
After viewing works from master egg tempera artists like Andrew Wyeth, Di Costanzo describes a light-bulb moment where she realized that it was the medium she wanted to work with and see what she could achieve.
“I’d never seen such luminosity, but it’s also something that’s hard to describe because you could get luminosity with watercolor and other paints. But it’s a different kind of a look—there’s a remoteness about [egg tempura]. It almost looks a little far away,” says Di Costanzo.
Fall Apples, egg tempera on panel, 12 x 16 in.
The luminosity and remoteness the artist describes are present in show pieces like Summer Peaches and Figs in a Bowl.
“Just at a passing glance, in the supermarket, you see oranges, lemons, apples, and you might not really appreciate certain characteristics or the color or little flaws within the fruit. I find them interesting because I think they relate back to us. We all have our own flaws and I want viewers to appreciate all those wonderful, wonderful things about the plant.”
Di Costanzo’s new egg tempera paintings will be on view at George Billis Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut, from July 1 to August 1. —
Two Apples, egg tempera on panel, 8 x 10 in.
George Billis Gallery 1700 Post Road • Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 557-9130 • www.georgebillis.com
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