Stacci's Artist StatementI explore both God-made natural plant life and man-made design and the influences of nature in pattern design. I create imaginary landscapes, combining aspects from nature, like leaf pattern, foliage, and other found patterns with found patterns from materials, particularly organic patterns in fabrics and textiles. While I am drawn to God's beautiful nature and its unpredictability, I am also attracted to patterned textiles that are controlled, planned designs. I create patterns, influenced by these designs, and incorporate them in unusual ways, often having the created pattern take the place of nature in an imaginary landscape, or overlapping multiple patterns in an ambiguous space, which both provide a kind of space that is unlike any other place.
The patterns that I create to fill my designs are detailed with fine lines, emphasizing the decorative quality of the pattern. I use oil paints, usually with fast-drying mediums, or acrylic paints, to get the fine lines of these detailed patterns. I use the oils to create texture, adding a tangible quality to the painting. I will often paint from a created tableau, in which I fill with a variety of patterns in different levels of space. My compositions fill the plane completely, creating a space that seems endless, leaving opportunity for the viewer to imagine more of the space. I aim to create a space that is unlike any place anyone has ever seen or imagined; a place that may virtually take the viewer away from what they know, into a knew realm. The space is overwhelmed with repeated patterns and lines, allowing opportunity for the viewer to use this repetition to be able to take the space beyond the painting and to imagine what is beyond on their own. Throughout my life I have been drawn to stories of fantasy, and the works and ideas of Brian and Wendy Froud, who create imaginary creatures that inhabit imaginary worlds; each creation becomes a new reality. I have also been influenced by Julie Heffernan’s paintings, which are filled with Baroque-like decorative creations. Her scenes are overwhelmed with imaginary plants and characters. In my paintings I fill the scene with imaginary designs that are inspired by organic patterns, like paisley and other Buta patterns. I provide a glimpse of a world which I've created using my own imagination. My paintings are meant to appeal to all ages, because use of imagination is something that should never be lost. |