CURATORIAL STATEMENT

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There are seven sacraments in Catholicism of which one is Reconciliation. This is where baptized sinners confess their sins to a priest who has the power to administer the sacrament of Reconciliation. When the priest takes away the sins, he issues a penance to the sinner which must be completed in order to fully make amends for the sins.  Often the routine penance is to recite Hail Mary prayers with the rosary.

This show is about sin and repentance and takes place in a genuine set of confessionals in a defunct Catholic church where sinners for years confessed their sins to a priest. There are six mid-career artists in the show. Three are based in upstate New York, two in Massachusetts and one in Los Angeles.

There are three sculptures.  Madison LaVallee has created a sculpture that interprets each of the deadly sins (e.g.  pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth). Stacy Petty’s staff, Pickle Whipped, is inspired by a crosier or staff that a higher-ranking priest usually carries to administer sacraments. The crosier is inspired by a shepherd’s staff for herding sheep. Pickle Whipped is Petty’s interpretation of the sacrament at a higher level.  Michael Tong made a figurative sculpture where the priest sits. Color plays a big role in Hideyo Okamura’s abstract paintings and the color he chose for this show was purple because that is the color of repentance in the Catholic church. The remaining works are 2-D and are artists’ interpretation of either one of the seven deadly sins or the act of repentance.