tracy rocca: new paintings
DESCRIPTION
Celebrated neoimpressionist Tracy Rocca uses walnut oils and alkyd to apply thin glazes of color, with each layer blending and obscuring color and detail into unspecified, but familiar settings. It was her frequent childhood commute that led to her soft-focused interpretations of landscape: Rocca realized that the faster she moved the more tranquil the roadside scenery appeared.TRANSCRIPT
TRACY ROCCANEW PAINTINGS
LewAllenGalleries
cover: Plunge, 2014, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 60” x 60”
TRACY ROCCANEW PAINTINGS
NOVEMBER 7 - DECEMBER 7. 2014
Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | tel 505.988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com | [email protected]
Tracy Rocca: NEW PAINTINGS
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Celebrated neoimpressionist Tracy Rocca uses walnut oils and alkyd to apply thin glazes of color with each layer, blending and obscuring color and detail into unspecified, but familiar settings. It was her frequent childhood commute that led to her softened interpretations of landscape: Rocca realized that the faster she moved the more tranquil the roadside scenery appeared. Previously working photographs of Seattle and the Southwest, exploring the world around her through highly saturated color, Rocca now produces purely from her imagination; like in the haze of a pleasant dream, the particularity of place remains out of reach.
Rocca enjoys painting for its therapeutic qualities. In a world brimming with instantaneous digital tools, Rocca champions a slower, more contemplative painting process in an effort “to create a place where the mind can rest.” Reasserting the value of the human presence in the painting process, Rocca not only hand paints her canvases,
but actually paints with her hands, using her fingertips to intuitively apply small additions of color and her palms to carefully blend before finishing with brushes. The trademark luminous glow that emerges at the center of her paintings behaves as a meditative focal point within a blurred array of dissolving colors and fleeting environmental comprehension, guiding the viewer to an introspective experience. Rocca continuously experiments with her work to find the most effective combination of outer elements to keep the viewer in the central light longer.
Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1974, Rocca moved frequently as a child, finally settling in Seattle to study advertising at the University of Washington. As a painter, now returned to her native New Mexico, she is largely self-taught. Since 2001, her work has been exhibited across the United States and has been featured in publications, such as The New York Times.
Deep End, 2014, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 48” x 96”
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Reef, 2014, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 60” x 60”
Dive Study, 2014, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 40” x 60”
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Dive, 2014,walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 60” x 144”
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Brimming, 2014,walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 48” x 120”
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Glow, 2013, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 48” x 48”
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Field, 2013, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 30” x 30”
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Clearing, 2013, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 24” x 24”
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Coast, 2013, walnut oils & alkyd on polyester over panel, 36” x 36”
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BORNAlbuquerque, NM 1974
SOLO EXHIBITIONS2014 Tracy Rocca: New Paintings, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM2012 Tracy Rocca: New Paintings, Winston Wachter Fine Art, New York, NY 2010 Tracy Rocca: Wish You Were Here, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA 2009 Tracy Rocca: New Paintings, Winston Wachter Fine Art, New York, NY2006 Walking Distance, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA2005 Tracy Rocca: New Paintings, Platform Gallery, Tucson, AZ2003 Random Order, Baran Lofts, San Francisco, CA2001 At a Distance, Westin Hotel, Seattle, WA
GROUP EXHIBITIONS2012 Terra Incognito:Imaginary Landscape, The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO2010 It’s All a Blur, The Shore Institute of The Contemporary Arts, Long Branch, NJ2009 Art in Embassies, United States Embassy, Colombo, Sri Lanka Exposure: Focus on New Artists; Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM Red Hot; Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2008 Road Trip, Nine Artists at the Uptown, The Uptown, Oakland, CA2006 Natural Selection, Microsoft Art Collection, Redmond, WA Spring Highlights, Winston Wachter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Review, Platform Gallery, Tucson, AZ2005 Top 40, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Los Angeles, CA Open Surface, Hollis Street Projects, Emeryville, CA2004 December Invitational, Platform Gallery, Tucson, AZ Small Works, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA Chillin, Studio Z, San Francisco, CA2002 Bay Area Artists, The Lift Gallery, San Francisco, CA Vivid, The G, San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION2002 California College of the Arts Extended Education, Oakland, CA, Post Baccalaureate1996 University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Bachelor of ArtsColor
COLLECTIONSUnited States Embassy, Colombo Sri LankaMicrosoft Art Collection, Redmond WashingtonRitz Carlton, Scottsdale ArizonaUniversity of New Mexico, Albuquerque New Mexico
BIBLIOGRAPHYTraditional Home Magazine, May, 2012 Seattle Times, June 18th, 2010Studio Visit Magazine. 2010, Vol. 11Studio Visit Magazine. 2008, Vol. 2Kips Bay: Coloring in the White Box, The New York Times, April 24, 2008
TRACY ROCCA
Railyard Arts District | 1613 Paseo de Peralta | Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 | tel 505.988.3250 www.lewallengalleries.com | [email protected]© 2014 LewAllen Contemporary LLC Artwork © Tracy Rocca