By: Edwin Lotero
PATERSON - The Passaic County Cultural & Heritage Council at Passaic County Community
College presented Mother/Daughter - Alternate Versions of Reality on Wednesday, Mar. 4 at the Broadway Gallery, showcasing a series of paintings and drawings by local artists Lonny
Badalamenti and her daughter Danielle Badalamenti. Assistant Director of the PCCHC Nicholas Rodriguez, along with Director of Cultural Affairs Susan Balik, curated the exhibition and set up the reception.
Mrs. Lonny Badalementi was born in Brooklyn, NY, and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, Grammy Award-winning composer, Angelo Badalamenti. She studied at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and shared that she was influenced by a French teacher she had in high school, who could communicate a great deal about her work with just a look.
Mrs. Badalamenti described one of her paintings on display, The World Spins, as “a toughie”.
The composition depicts several colorful spheres set in a background of varied landscapes.
According to the artist, each work is unique, and anyone can get what they want out of it in terms of interpretation.
Another art piece that Mrs. Badalementi discussed was Horizons Interrupted, a landscape-like painting composed in horizontal layers. She said she pays much attention to her choices of color and enjoys creating a work that has a lot going on, expressing that the “things that make me go crazy... when I don’t have a color.”
Danielle Badalamenti, who was born and raised in the Brooklyn household, attended the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia where she studied fashion. After her studies, she worked designing screen prints for children’s clothes with companies like the Children’s Place, while at the same time engaging in her interest in drawing.
On display are a series of her portrait renderings, all in graphite. Badalamenti has composed over 100 drawings, many of them privately commissioned for homes throughout New Jersey and some in Pennsylvania. She began dedicating more time to her artwork after the birth of her children, though she already displayed remarkable talent from a young age.
“it was always was a challenge and interest to render faces”, said Badalamenti, and mused that at even as young as 3 or 4 years of age she would get frustrated at being unable to draw 3- dimensional stick figure people. One drawing that Badalamenti pointed out, Best Friends,
depicts a life-like rendering of her niece and best friend, adding that she looked so happy in the photograph she based the drawing on.
Mother/Daughter - Alternate Versions of Reality is on display until Apr. 10. For more
information, contact Susan Balik, Director, Cultural Affairs at (973) 684-5444 or
sbalik@pccc.edu