Cindy Rizza: Taking Care

"Caretaking often serves as a means to establish a sense of control when we feel adrift in uncertainty, allowing us to create stability, order, and beauty in response to anxiety. Taking Care, pays homage to the long history of items we use for acts of care and nurture. These cherished items, both useful and ornamental, are deeply intertwined with our most intimate memories of home. Layered textiles and familiar domestic objects reveal intricate patterns that suggest enduring sanctuary, even when their original purpose has passed. When placed in unexpected settings, these objects transform, transcending their utilitarian origins to become powerful symbols of identity and meaning.

A profound sense of absence permeates the work, with empty spaces and silent objects speaking to the ephemeral nature of warmth, memory, and human connection. Deliberate and poetic compositions reveal a complex emotional terrain where viewers might simultaneously experience contradictory feelings: comfort and discomfort, protection and confinement, love and loss. By illuminating these objects with direct and fleeting light, the work probes our profound material attachments, evoking a longing for material comfort while remaining acutely aware of time's inevitable passage."