Artist Statement
Whether I am working in black and white or color I’ve sought to suggest in my paintings – in addition to beauty -feelings of hope and peace.
Most of the black and white verticals started with music. They were born out of the genius of others such as Mozart and Bach. When I am listening to a piece of classical music and I close my eyes, what I see is the lines, the vibrations and explosions of the sounds, the notes, and the music. It always comes to me that way. And then black and white, never color, perhaps referencing the notes and sheet music I have seen throughout my life.
While the black and white pieces are inspired by music, the color pieces are about light and imagination. My color work is heavily influenced by nature and the magic of the ever-changing landscape.
I primarily work with watercolor on canvas, but my intention is never to follow the traditional path of watercolor. I am always experimenting, using the fluidity of the medium to my advantage. Sometimes I will use printing techniques to achieve patterns, sometimes spraying and rubbing and creating shadows by taking the paint off as quickly as I have applied it. It’s an exciting process because the outcome is always a surprise and that is what I look for, the happy accident when the very wet paint has a mind of its own and directs my next step.
About the Artist
Constance Pappalardo was born in Lima, Peru. She moved to New York City at the age of eight. The art and culture of the city inspired her to pursue her art studies. After high school, Ms. Pappalardo studied painting at The School of Visual Arts, in Manhattan.
Pappalardo now lives in Cary, North Carolina. Her contemporary abstract watercolors have been featured in numerous galleries in Cary, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and other cities in North Carolina.
She is a member of the Fine Arts League on Cary, The Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh, Artspace and of The Durham Art Guild in Durham.
Ms. Pappalardo is the recipient of various art awards. Her works are included in local corporate collections as well as private collections in the states as well as England, Norway, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Mongolia, Moldova, and her native Peru.
She was chosen to be the signature artist for Cary’s 2007 Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival and is one of the original founders of The Cary Art Loop, Final Friday Art Walk.
Ms. Pappalardo is very involved in many charity art auctions, donating art throughout the years to such charitable events as VAE’s For the Love Art auction and gala, the Works of the HeArt/ action against AIDS auction and gala, North Carolina Museum of Art’s Art of the Auction, the Red Cross, the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County and Habitat for Humanity among others.
