Luca Soldovieri
Open it Like a Letter, Read it Like a Window
March 22 – April 26, 2025
Opening reception: Saturday March 22nd, 2-5pm
Click here to register for advanced notices on the show and a preview of available work.
The materials that make up the show are either sourced from the artist’s life and environment or purchased second hand, and are then hand-crushed, sifted, ground, or sanded by Luca Soldovieri into a fine dust. Material is sourced from spaces, surfaces, and objects. She brings these materials into relationship with one another as a form of storytelling. When placed in context together, they take on additional meaning and form an image that is felt or intuited rather than seen: the headlight of a car, the guardrail of a highway, the passenger seatbelt, the fibers of the t-shirt it rests against, and the locket beneath it. Each painting is paired with a corresponding material list that reads like poetry, while cataloging all materials used in the painting. The materials in each “poem” describe a story, memory, sensation, or experience. Essentially, each work contains dual narratives: the hazy imagery of the painting itself and, upon closer inspection, the story embedded within the list of materials. Some objects dissolve into the painting entirely, a hair clip or photograph, while others continue to exist in the world, missing only a small part of themselves—like a church pew, threshold, or balcony railing. Other materials appear in multiple works, such as a girl’s shoe or household dust, forming a shared DNA among the paintings.
The relationships between the images and their corresponding material lists vary from work to work. The connections range from elements as concrete as a shared location to as fragile as a single word. The tenuousness of these connections alludes to a relationship between things—past and present, place and memory—that does not belong to language.
The image becomes almost secondary to the materials and textures. It is as though the invisible stories begin to alter and overpower the image, pulling it toward abstraction and ambiguity. This body of work explores the sensation of being in two—or many—different places at once. Once transformed, these materials enter a more fluid physical state. They spread out, they slip away. They, too, will occupy many places at once.
Opening Reception
March 22, 2025 2:00 pm – 5:00 pmArtist Links
Included Artworks
Just Out Back, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (soil, clover, garden bench, rain boots, envelope, stamp, ‘Returned to Sender’ sticker, ruled paper, ballpoint ink, 4”x6” photo prints) on panel, 30" x 20"
Farther Out, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (soil, clover, garden bench, rain boots, envelope, stamp, ‘Returned to Sender’ sticker, ruled paper, ballpoint ink, 4”x6” photo prints) on panel, 30" x 20"
Silver, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (keycard, light switch, lamp, moth) on panel, 12" x 8"
Still There Somewhere, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive & powdered material (driveway gravel, car tire, rearview mirror, porch paint, steps, handrail, folding chair, beer bottle, shirt pocket, wallet print, dust) on panel, 40" x 30"
Skylight, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (rain gutter, roofing, glass, bathroom tile, comb, hair scissors, coffee cup, coffee cup) on panel, 30" x 20"
Deer Bed, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (bed frame, slats, dust bunnies, floorboards, sweater, hair clip, flashlight “The National Geographic: Are We Alone? Searching the Heavens for Another Earth (December Edition, 2009)”, earplugs) on panel, 30" x 40"
Imprint, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (dirt, shoe (size 6, girls), petals) on panel, 12" x 8"
Nightwatch Blue, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (guard rail, asphalt, road paint, tires, ’Nightwatch Blue’ automotive paint, headlights, high beams, dust, speedometer needle, cup holder, Diet Coke, passenger seat belt, t- shirt, locket) on panel, 60" x 40"
Grew Fast and Slow, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (press-on nails, ring, computer keys; ‘G, R, E, W, F, A, S, T, N, D, L, O, W’) on panel, 12" x 8"
Rising, Falling, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (mirror, handrail, elevator button, pearls, necklace clasp, hair strand, blouse tag) on panel, 30" x 30"
Solitaire, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive & powdered material (sliding door handle, glass, concrete, slippers, balcony railing, feather, dust, folding table, playing cards) on panel, 30" x 40
Chamber, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (soil, stones, tree roots, jeans with dirt, trowel, shoebox, photographs, shirt button, pressed four-leafed clover, DVD, perfume) on panel, 80" x 40"
On My Way, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (track, tactile strip, shoe outsoles, pocket zipper, train ticket, dollar bill, receipt (1/2 dozen tulips, $9.97) on panel, 30" x 20"
Waited Up, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (streetlight, windowsill, nightstand, earrings, photo, answering machine, ’Play’ button, ‘Rewind’ button) on panel, 30" x 20"
Open Up, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (threshold, front door, lock, door chain, peephole, eyelash) on panel, 30" x 20"
Look Up, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (cell tower, dandelion fluff, telephone wires, grass, dust, iPod, headphone splitter) on panel, 30” x 20”
Fountain House, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (garden faucet, rust, sprinkler, grass, weeds, pebbles, soil, sneakers (size 11, mens) shoes (size 6 girls), oak tree, paper bag, cherry pits) on panel, 40" x 30"
Ripple, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (Pool tile, diary pages, ballpoint ink) on panel, 8" x 12"
Motion, 2025
Luca SoldovieriAdhesive and powdered material (stained glass, church pew, tights, oxfords, shirt button, ring, Vitry Anti- Bite Nail Polish, lilies, stone, photograph) on panel, 30" x 30"