Integration
Jonny Skye and Peter Manzella November 2024
About Jonny
Jonny Skye is an emerging artist building on her life as a gallerist, curator, writer, convener, advocate and educator. As the former owner of Skye Gallery in Providence, RI, upon its closure due to the untenable conditions of the pandemic, Jonny redirected her focus to her own painting practice. She is a member of the Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma, holds a BA in Visual Art from Brown University and a MAT in Art Education from RISD.
'My life's work has been driven by issues of access and voice and I deeply commit to artists and community. I revel in bringing folks together in surprising ways – utilizing visual language to provoke joy and dialogue within transformative social intersections to inspire more respect and understanding for each other and the planet.'
Artist Statement
I am a bridge walker. I sizzle at indignant colonial social constructs and buoy with global narratives of recovery and restoration. I paint to find coherence in the incoherent - building a new language while re-rooting in the ideological, ephemeral and spoken language of my indigenous relatives. I paint in parable, challenging disconnection by honoring cosmic biology and the persistent yearnings both micro and macro. There is always fertility amidst futility. I work to ground and provoke celebration of the essential.
Exhibition Statement
INTEGRATION
The concept of 'nature' as a separate entity - outside of walls, a place to intentionally visit, wild and dangerous - breeds a dangerous abstraction of the parts of self. We are, in fact, made of the same elements as the soil and stars, the stones and trees, the rivers and the rain. Resistance to the commodification of life requires connecting the human experience to the experience of all living things. Fertility persists amidst futility. Symbiotic balance, a self with parts and the self as part – integration.
About Peter
Peter Manzella, a long-time Providence, RI, resident, is a woodworker and artist who has been quietly making museum-quality pieces for over 40 years. Peter was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1956 and moved to Barrington, RI, when his father, David Manzella, was hired to work at RISD.
From artist progeny Peter attended the Rhode Island School of Design earning degrees in both Sculpture and Landscape Architecture. At 67, he continues to work full-time as a carpenter/designer, recognized amongst his peers for his creativity and extraordinary commercial work.
Ever the iconoclast, Peter has, up until this point, only made his work available to those lucky enough to know him and has chosen to stay out of the limelight. But now for the first time, we can all appreciate the brilliance of his craftsmanship, which demonstrates the highest level of mastery in his field.
Stay tuned for more information about the exhibition and imagery.
