maureen ciaccio:
pmciaccio@earthlink.net

My sculptural works in cast paper and mixed media draw a parallel between the organization we find in nature and that which we impose upon the world. I have used forms reminiscent of storage units, reels of film, airplanes, and satellites that all have their inspiration in the natural world. My intention is to find the amiguous line between that which is natural and that which is human made.

In my most recent body of work, I reference things like calendars, time lines and architectural supports -- conventions used to structure our time and space, an otherwise amorphous reality. The pieces are rooted in a personal perception of the accumulation of time and explore how we take this unstructured nothing and form a self out of it. I intend them to be a bit humorous in their absurdity and in my obsession with trying to make something out of nothing.

The works are very lightweight, seem vulnerable in their delicacy and are, for the most part, translucent. I use this quality to make visible the structure, the space, and to show what is not there. I also like the tentative, temporal quality these materials lend the work. It is as if they could change, grow, or decay.

Selected shows: •Between Time and Surface Area, one-person, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2006 •Ephemeral Threads, group, Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ, 2005 • Cross Section, one-person, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2002 •Group, Dundalk Gallery, Baltimore, MD, 2002 •Just Made, group, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1999 •To Be or Not to Be, group, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA , 1998 •Bio-Logic, one-person, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1997 •Nexus Coming of Age, group, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA,1997 •Narratives,group, The Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA, 1994 •Unique Books, group, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA., 1994 •The Complete Drawing, group, Nexus Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1994 •Nexus at Viridian, group, Viridian Gallery, New York, NY, 1994

•Intimate Excerpts, one-person, High Wire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1993 •Alumni Invitational, group, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 1993 •Nexus Selects, group, Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1993 •Stories, multimedia collaboration, TAPS, Columbus, OH, 1993 •Faculty Show, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA , 1993 •Faculty Show, Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, PA , 1993 •Looking Back at You, Nexus Community Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 1992 •Third Annual BEAMS Exhibition, juried, The BAUhouse, Baltimore, MD, 1992 •Feeling In My Bones, multimedia collaboration, Doane Dance Theater, Denison University, Granville, OH, 1992 •Print Invitational, group, Burke Hall Gallery, Denison University, Granville OH, 1992 •When Artists and Poets Meet, group, High Wire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA,1992