Monica DeSalvo
Photo by Lee Pellegrini
Monica DeSalvo’s work is inspired by the individual and collective journeys that she and her late father had with his dementia. Caring for him at the end of his life had already prompted DeSalvo to use mixed media and collage to visually preserve his insightful perspectives and illustrate vignettes of their experiences. Using a Gelli plate to print onto his paper memorabilia, which centers around his aeronautical engineering education and profession, is an important step in creating the monotypes she integrates into her work. DeSalvo’s compositions are often segmented or constructed as diptychs, reflecting the caregiving dyad, the dueling realities of a fragmented mind, or one straddling this physical world and what lies ahead. Through her process, she plays with exposing and camouflaging elements, revealing multiple storylines. This visual exploration fortifies DeSalvo’s abstract imagery, giving it direction and purpose, and her multi-step, layered creations result in “visual duets.”
Monica DeSalvo received her BFA in Visual Design from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Her work has been shown in many shows both juried and invitational, is a part of collections across the US and Europe, and has been featured in Juniper Rag and Artscope magazines. In 2023, her solo show, "A Bus Tour in the Woods: Visual Duets with Her Father," took place at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, and she was interviewed for the Dementia Spring Foundation’s Artist Spotlight. In 2022 her three-person show, “Into the Ether” was the winning proposal invited to exhibit at Nearby Gallery in Newton, MA. In 2021 DeSalvo was one of eight artists to win a spot for the Attleboro Arts Museum’s selective annual juried exhibition "8 Visions." She lives and works out of her studio in Arlington, MA.
Additional work can be found at Desalvo’s website <monicadesalvo.com> and Instagram account.
Fountain Street Exhibitions: “Mom & Pop,” “Form and Emptiness,” “Beyond Words”, “The Momentary,” “Divergent Thinking”, “Annex Show October 2018”, “Limitless Translations.”
Purchase Monica DeSalvo's work by contacting us directly at director@fsfaboston.com. DeSalvo's work is also available for purchase on 1stdibs.com.
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More about Fountain Street Artists:
Boston Art Review | Shira Laucharoen