Dark family secrets and antique photographs fuel Natalie Guerrieri and Jen Blazina‘s hauntingly beautiful works in “Time Capsules.”
In “The Twins,” one of seven engrossing portraits, Guerrieri depicts her Great Uncle Frankie who died when he was 6 and his twin who died at birth.
“Frankie died when my Great Aunt Joe was babysitting him,” Guerrieri shared. “Either she let it happen or she pushed him. She was manic-depressive – that little twist no one ever talked about. She was a concert pianist for the Chicago Symphony and her music made her have nervous breakdowns. She was put in shock therapy, the only treatment available then.”
To create her mixed-media paintings, Guerrieri enlarges, scans and colors antique photographs onto un-stretched canvas, before building the subject’s backdrop, often embellished with objects such as tree bark and Civil War era antique cards.
Guerrieri blended collage and painting through a “happy accident.” Her towering artworks in “Time Capsules” range from 6 to 8 feet in height.
Cheri Landry, Director of Gallery Imperato, said Guerrieri and Blazina precisely fit her exhibition criteria. “I’m always looking for non-traditional processes and mediums. I don’t ever want people to come into the Gallery and be bored or feel like they’ve seen this before.”
Blazina transfers photographic images of family members from generations ago onto glass, rubber lockets and illuminated school desks.
“I make them in black and white and take out discernible images to create a universal feel, which is based on my own personal experience,” she said. “But I want viewers to have more of an attachment to the work in terms of their own experience.”
IF YOU GO
Time Capsules
WHERE: Gallery Imperato
921 E. Fort Ave., Ste. 120, Baltimore
WHEN: Through April 5
INFO: 443-257-4166,
