Opening Reception—Judy Onofrio: Deep Dive

Deep Dive will situate Judy Onofrio’s wall-mounted and floor sculptures in the history of the American craft and self-taught artist movements. At 82 years young, Judy continues to inspire the next generation of artists while championing the artists who paved the way for her success. Her larger than life found object sculptures are covered with thousands of beads and intricate glass mosaics that celebrate life’s color and humor, matching perfectly with her creative energy. It is through her accumulative process that Judy continues to push the boundaries of craft, especially how she shares the history that objects contain, as she says, “The joy I derive from making art compliments my love for collecting an odd assortment of curios that provoke strong memories.” Her more recent works, best described as constructions, have the same ambitious scale but take on questions of mortality and repair. The Bone series began when she was recovering from cancer, she explains, “[…] by using bones as a material I am literally repairing something that is broken and lifeless. I am extending life through materials that are inanimate.” Deep Dive is curated by Christopher Atkins.