My work explores and documents events from my ethnic heritage and religous upbringing. Specifically I paint scenes of Italian, Roman Catholic, religous fesitvals, “feasts”. I document and create images from pictorial references and memories that highlight the different tradtions, rituals and the emotions of these glorious summer events.

Most of my images focus on two “feasts”. First the feast of the Madonna della Civita in Cranston, Rhode Island and the other is the feast of the Healing Saints of Saints Cosmo and Damiano in Sommerville, MA. Both of these events have long histories here it he US and were brought here by Italian imagrants in the late 1880’s. These events once common everday occurence in the north east are no slowly dying off and are one of the few calling cards left for Itaian Americans.

The goal of my work is to document the pagentary, warmth and strangeness of these events. Growing up as I did in an enviroment where your yearly calander revolved around these events was wonderful and exciting. Summers were filled with marching bands, food, friends, family and religous furver. I attempt to capture some of that in my work so that these traditions may live on.