Surreal and strong are words expressed by many who have seen Lindsey Centracchio’s '23 newest piece, "Green in the Summer, Home," inside the lobby of the Steel Plant Studio. The piece, created during the fall of 2021, brings together a mixture of distinct color tones and delicate brush strokes to create a synchronization of eye-catching artistic expression. It is clear to see that Centracchio is no amateur in the world of art.

"It's like I'm creating my own puzzle in a way and as I go, I connect more puzzle pieces until I know it's finished," explained Centracchio when asked about her artistic process. "But I don't know what those puzzle pieces are going to be until I do it...you just kind of keep going and as it goes it makes more sense."

Just like her artistic process, Centracchio's career in art has been filled with all different types of puzzles. Through art as her medium, Centracchio has been able to utilize the most formative moments of her life and express them through pieces that not only hold strong thematic undertones but help her understand herself and others along the way.

It all started with a mural in high school. "I noticed that in my school there were a lot of murals, but there [was] not a lot of diversity within the paintings." Centracchio said. She wanted to use her art as a way of bringing the community together. "So, I painted a female lacrosse player and then for my other one I painted my friend who is Moroccan and I painted her playing soccer and so there's some representation of players [of color]." From that moment, Centracchio realized the impact her work could truly have.

Centracchio then decided to take it a step further. Her goal was to create a piece that made her high school classmates genuinely think about themselves and reflect upon what was important to them. "I painted the entire hallway and I did [these] cool abstract circles throughout the whole hallway. I had one main centerpiece and it was [...] a very ambiguous figure," Centracchio explained. Painted underneath the piece were the words, 'love is…'. "It was something cool that when people walk through the hallway, they can ponder that throughout their day, 'What is love? What does this mean to me?'"

Instead of painting an entire hallway or a mural, she sought to use her art as a way of communication, through pure visualization rather than words told on the walls of her high school hallway.

In both 2017 and 2018, Centracchio embarked on a medical mission to Haiti. During her time there, she spent a great deal of it with the children that resided in the orphanage she stayed in. "Every day, we would go and hang out with the kids and just create relationships with these children," said Centracchio. "I wasn't able to personally talk to all of them. Some of them could speak a little bit [of English], but most of them were kids or toddlers so they can't even speak anyways." Centracchio wanted to capture the ways she was able to communicate with the children of Haiti through their facial expressions. So, she set out to photograph the children and the people with whom she was able to create a lasting relationship to remember who they were and the time they spent together.

Centracchio took her own photographs and made a 12 piece concentration. She approached the project organically, seeking to portray the true expressions of each child.

"Each portrait I did was someone that had an impact on me. So being able to paint them and show their true beauty and be able to show the world how I view them [...] is really cool," Centracchio stated. "I think it's really inspiring to see portraits, and just like, think introspectively about yourself and those around you."

Centracchio's evolving passion for portraitures led her to create one of her favorite pieces yet. One of her biggest pieces, "Distance," showcases two women in a bath while wearing sunglasses. "I [wanted] to focus on composition, depth of color, and skin and appreciation for our objective way," she stated, with the goal of testing her skills using a plethora of concepts and techniques. With soft yet vibrant baby blue color throughout the piece, in contrast with the skin tones of the women, Centracchio is able to highlight the true meaning behind it.

Lindsey’s favorite piece titled “Distance,” sought to focus on how our views of different people often come from prejudices and bias. Painting courtesy of Lindsey Centracchio ‘23

"I [wanted] to communicate the idea that many times our views of people are more from prejudices and bias. These preconceived ideas can be some of the most dangerous towards those around us who are different than us," she said. "These may be outside our level of conscious awareness, but that doesn't change the effect it has on our communities and social groups."

Centracchio's newest work titled "Green in the Summer, Home" forced her to take on the new challenge of painting herself. "Painting yourself is probably the hardest thing you can do just because you see yourself in such a different way than I feel like you actually look and how you're actually perceived." Using techniques of surrealism and creating an imaginary self-created background, Centracchio is able to elevate her work while at the same time challenging herself.

As Centracchio keeps working towards her goal of becoming a full-time artist, she knows that she can never be too satisfied. "No painting’s done when it's done," she said. Even looking at her past work, she notices her growth through the years. "Those pieces do represent a certain time in my life because I can look back and be like, 'Oh, that's when I was at the skill level'. So it is interesting to look back and be able to differentiate that from my work now."

However, Centracchio's artist puzzle is far from complete; it has only started. "I'm definitely finding more of my niche and what I enjoy painting and creating [the] most to express myself. I paint what I want to be seen painted."

Puzzling Together Her Art

MARIST CIRCLE