Eduardo Lapetina
In Full Bloom
Opening Reception
Saturday, June 8th, 2 -5 PM
Artist Reception &
Last Fridays Art Walk
Friday, June 28th 6 - 9 PM
Music 7 PM ~ Katharine Whalen Certain Seas and Friends
Last Day to View In Full Bloom
Saturday July 13, 11-5
Closing Reception with the Artist 2-5 PM
Artist Statement
The title of this exhibit “In Full Bloom” was derived from a series of three recent paintings that made me feel that “Life is Blooming Again”. I thought that the colors, texture, form, composition and movement of those paintings revealed to me a new life’s journey. And then the subsequent paintings became “ Finding Paradise”, “Happiness”, “The Audacity to be Old, Free, Bold”, “A Life of No Regret”.
It seems that the world of my canvas fills me with creativity, freedom, and beauty. And I hope that my paintings will provide the viewers a similar feeling.
Bio
I was born in Argentina in 1940 to parents of Italian descent. My early years were characterized by witnessing the hard work of my family to provide for their children. My interest in science led me to study at the University of Buenos Aires and to work in the School of Medicine. In 1975 I left Argentina and moved to the USA to escape the Argentine political situation, and to concentrate on my career and raise my family.
International travel associated with my work as a scientist allowed me opportunities to view and collect art from around the world. When I was forced from my work as a scientist by worsening symptoms of MS, I seized the opportunity to move from art collector to art creator. Over the years of appreciating art, I had refined a sense of what I most appreciated and reacted to in the art which I loved. Over the next 25 years I honed my ability to express my own passions in my abstract acrylic paintings.
Painting has been essential to my ability to cope with the illnesses that have impacted me. I have had health problems throughout my life that have caused me pain and restricted what I could do, but also taught me how to accept, face and overcome challenges. This part of my story began when I was 12 years old, when I was hospitalized for five months and subsequently required medical treatment and intermittent hospitalization over the next eight years. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) 40 years ago, and a decade ago I began to suffer from Myasthenia Gravis (MG). Advancing age has further exacerbated some of the debilitating symptoms of these illnesses.
I am very grateful that, in spite of the challenges and limitations these health problems impose, my conditions have been sufficiently stabilized that I can lead a meaningful and fulfilling life. Painting is integral to my life and a large part of what makes my life satisfying. When I go into the studio to paint, I escape the pain, disability and impediments caused by my chronic diseases and instead lose myself in the passion of painting. When I enter into the world of my canvas, I exist in a place filled with color, boldness, creativity, freedom and beauty; there are no limitations, just a life of no regret.
~ Eduardo Lapetina