Charla Y. Gaglio

P.O. Box 1743 St. Petersburg, FL 33731
(727) 568-9003
cygaglio@gallery-gaglio.com

"The body is a highly contested site - its flesh is both the recipient and the source of desire, lust, and hatred. As a pawn of technology, it is sacred and sacrificial, bearing the politics of society and state. The body is our common bound, yet is separates us in its public display of identity, race, and gender." - William A. Ewing, The Body

My paintings explore the skin and historical associations of layered cloth, and combine these with the female face and body as subject matter. Often cut and woven from two separate paintings and then "nailed" to the support canvas, I also reconsider the traditional forms of oil painting and presentation through my work. I think of my images as captured moments; thoughts and feelings "faced" and rendered through time-intensive processes; utilizing the female figure as the simultaneous site and embodiment of canvas and "2-D vessel", decorative surface and interior reflection. Eyes and the concept of sight - viewing, seeking both in the exterior and inner worlds through the often described "windows of the soul" - also play significant roles in my paintings. Finally, the familiar icon-like format of many of these works is periodically challenged by raw, unfinished edges. It is with these ideas in mind that I create my work, subsequently inviting viewers to create new, personal meanings from these traditional shapes, and symbols.