Eric Finzi

Lives and works in Washington, D.C., and New York

Artist statement

Eric Finzi’s work uses resin, time, temperature, gravity, viscosity, syringes, needles and a blowtorch as artistic tools. The process begins with the mixing of the resin and its catalyst; a chemical reaction ensues, creating urgency. The image created is the final scene of a moving picture whose history is encoded in layers of resin. The inherent chaos of the chosen medium, resin, meets its match in paintings that are infused with the temporality of a ticking clock. Our environment moves in unpredictable directions as a fragmented face moves in projected waves , or a group from the 1800’s returns to see that the position of earth has changed; earth is now rising, like the sun of past. Finzi’s work over the past 25 years addresses themes of danger, loss, denial, migration, immigration, child labor, fascism, mental illness and climate change. His work is simultaneously eerie and ethereal, and his emotionally charged compositions are informed by his deep-seated interests in history and science. Using historical records he addresses disturbing treatments of young female subjects who were effectively imprisoned in 19th century mental hospitals by physicians. With the Child Labor series of paintings Finzi addressed themes of precarity of existence, resin,and social injustice. Using the documentary photographs of Lewis W. Hine as source material, Finzi ‘s subjects confront the viewer with the stark gaze of children exploited as workers in factories, farms and coal mines. His...

Artwork