Carol Calicchio - Flower Power Has a New Dimension
Fairfield County native Carol Calicchio’s ascent into the art world can be traced back to her family of artists and early education.
Her mastery of abstract florals began several years after she earned a degree from the NYSID. A combination of painting and drawing studies at the School of Visual Arts helped Carol realize her true passion was best expressed in the art she had been hanging in other’s homes.
So she set off on her own course, finding an artistic realm of her own, through unique paintings that express rich energy palettes.
Carol, who now lives in Delray Beach, Florida, creates her colorful works in a spacious, inspiring studio on the banks of the intracoastal.
“The work is relentlessly positive, beautifully constructed with expressionistic, masterful brushstrokes. Carol Calicchio’s paintings are at once serious and highly crafted while giving the viewer an uplifting experience. They are stimulating to the senses in the way a floral bouquet is and at the same time intellectually satisfying. Works like her Hummingbird series offer the painting aficionado a familiar starting point in nature and then take you on a ride from Fauvism through abstract expressionism.”
- Paul Fisher
Owner of Paul Fisher Gallery
“Carol Calicchio follows an honorable tradition of painters who found creative inspiration through interpreting the natural aesthetic values of colorful flowers. From Monet, Matisse, Klimt, Van Gogh and Emil Nolde to celebrated female painters Georgia O’Keeffe, Rachel Ruysch and Judith Leyster, Calicchio shares an appreciative common denominator of vision and inventiveness. She has developed an idiosyncratic style that often presents a lively composition that is reminiscent of bursting fireworks on the Fourth of July. In these arrangements, flower shapes take on their own personality as they “light up” the canvas with memorable, expansive, expressionistic brushstrokes -Flower Power has a new dimension.”
- Bruce Helander
Artist’s Statement
Natural light is a limitless spectrum of color. Everything it touches is illuminated in brilliance and brought to life. My abstractions aim to interpret this powerful force of nature.
Each painting is a unique story of a personal encounter that occurs in both the conscious and unconscious realm. My artwork explores the complexity of light and its power to unite individuals, not only with their surroundings, but with emotion and one another.