JACQUI CROCETTA

Jacqui Crocetta—Artist Statement

In recent years, I’ve focused on ocean-centric works in which I pay tribute to the awe and wonder I feel for nature, while responding to concerns such as the prevalence of plastic marine debris, coral bleaching, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events. The mindset of interconnectedness is the foundation of my work.

Since early childhood visits to my grandparents’ home on Massachusetts’ South Shore, I’ve been fascinated by the ocean and the intertidal zone—the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides. In 2020, the shock of discovering a Florida beach heavily polluted with plastic trash prompted me to pick up as much plastic trash as I could carry, while documenting the process. I later transferred the images of my beach clean-up project onto single-use plastic trash in a series of abstract wall works that were embellished with painted marks and bits of plastic stitched into the surface. That series led to ocean-inspired paintings and installations.

Close observation of the natural world informs my work, but rather than duplicating what I see, my intention is to replicate a way of seeing. The complex surfaces of my paintings are designed to draw the viewer in for prolonged looking, to facilitate moments of mindfulness in anxious times.

I begin my paintings with loose washes of color sprayed with water, to minimize control and facilitate unexpected results. I then layer the washes with marks and patterns, until the composition emerges. I take this improvisational approach to painting in an effort to optimize my sense of discovery.

My sculptures and installations are comprised of unconventional materials. The components of these works are often meticulously stitched together or covered with intricately painted marks and patterns. I deliberately engage in labor-intensive processes that facilitate a meditative state conducive to reflection.

Within my layered works, harmony rubs up against discord, creating a subtle friction that makes space to think about our impact on the environment.

"In the Shelter of Each Other" honors and brings attention to the victims of extreme weather events that have become more prevalent due to climate change. Wild fires, heat waves and floods disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. What will inspire us to make necessary sacrifices to better protect vulnerable people and our planet? “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live”—Irish proverb

"Sentinel" was created in response to the vulnerability we feel while witnessing the suffering of other human beings. It's about those times when we cannot say or do anything to help the situation and though we may be feeling awkward or inadequate, we make the choice to be present and hold the space of compassion.

"Undercurrent," a site-specific installation, was developed in response to the near drowning experience I had as a young child. Through EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) I recalled this traumatic event so vividly that I was gasping for air, I became aware of how profoundly it influenced my response to stress throughout my life, and I learned to reprocess the memory and triggers so that they no longer elicit a visceral stress response. As a result, I now have a far greater sense of calm in all stressful situations. The large funnel form in this work represents the fine line between life and death. Is it a means to access oxygen or a way for water to enter the lungs?

“Protect. Nurture. Release.” is a series of works that center on the complex mother-child dynamic. I am interested in how the struggle between opposing forces and an ever-changing shift in roles, is what shapes the mother-child relationship. I am fascinated by the ‘letting go’ that is necessary to realize human potential, and the feelings of both loss and joy that are an integral part of transitions. The centerpiece for this series is a dress I created from grapevine twigs and wire during my daughter's senior year in high school. I awoke in the middle of the night with the understanding that the word 'nest' in 'leaving the nest' meant 'heart.' What started as a bodice-shaped empty nest turned into a complete dress—the lower portion of the dress resembling a teepee-shaped dwelling. The complete installation includes a bed of twigs collected from each of the schools my daughter attended (click here for installation view).