Paul Colucci: Sculptural Objects

Paul Colucci will be our artist in the Gallery for the month of August. His show “Sculptural Objects”, opens Wednesday, August 6th and will be installed through Sunday, August 31st.

For almost thirty years Paul Colucci has been immersed in a creative process that is tangible, yet fragile and elusive. The process starts with the beauty seen in the old weathered objects that have been a part of his life since his childhood in upstate New York. He’d play in old barns and wander through fields, and would find his imagination stirred by the relics and inventions of the past he found there. Now, as he creates his pieces, he responds to the textures, shapes, contrasts, and colors of these found objects.

Paul’s guiding inspiration is an innate desire to generate excitement and pleasure derived from the beauty of the objects. He has abandoned many of the traditional woodworking techniques that seem too regimented to allow the energy and emotion of the creative process to come through more directly. In their place, he has developed techniques that are more immediate and spontaneous, and that capture and reflect both the movement and emotion – the balance – that he hopes to create.

Paul Colucci was born and raised in rural upstate New York.  As a young boy growing up in the country, the shapes of the landscape and buildings inspired him.  He used things that he found to create images and objects.  By the time he headed off to college, he decided to focus on engineering. Unfulfilled, he left school and moved to New York City where he built art furniture with found materials.  Word spread of Paul’s work and his need for found materials, and he was contacted by farmers to disassemble barns that were slated to be burned by the local fire departments.

Paul’s work became well-known in New York quickly and he was published several times in the New York Times. He eventually left New York and followed his future wife to Denver where he continued to dumpster dive for found materials at renovation sites. He began showing his work in the West and Southwest.  He then moved to the middle of the Navajo reservation where he built a studio and continued to be inspired by landscapes and architecture.

Returning to the Northeast in 2006, Paul was instantly hired to work with local businesses to help design and create their retail space. He now resides in Ithaca and continues to do private commissions and local shows.

We hope you’ll make plans to see this exciting new show!