“Altered States Of Being” Broken Ceramics on Wood Wall Sculpture, 38” x 32” x 15” — **“Altered States Of Being”** Broken Ceramics on Wood Wall Sculpture, 38” x 32” x 15”

Lois Lambert Gallery presents Chris Fraticelli, “Into Pieces”, an exhibition of sculptures that have transformed the endless supply of decorative mass produced ceramics into metaphorical mosaic sculptures commenting on contemporary society.

Fraticelli is a self-taught artist who started creating found object sculptures as a child working with his Grandpa, Louie, a coal miner by trade, but who’s avocation was art and found object sculpting. One of Chris’ earliest memories is of his Grandpa’s five-foot tall mushroom made from plumber’s pipe, concrete, paint cans and venetian blinds.

Upon graduation from the US Naval Academy with a degree in economics, Chris was commissioned a 2nd lieutant and spent seven years in the Marine Corps. While serving campaigns in Somalia and Operation Desert Storm, Chris was a platoon commander and worked with mines and explosives. Ironically, Chris’ work is about putting objects back together.

In Chris’ travels, he gathers broken, and sometimes even whole, ceramic figurines and statuary to break again and reassemble into themed sculptures. He is inspired by urban decay, disorder and maximalist design. The pieces begin their lives in a pristine environment and are purposely damaged and birthed into a new reality meant to inspire awe, witticism and questioning. These sculptures work on several levels: the visual, the comical, the emotional and the political. Chris harnesses the chaos of the broken ceramics by giving them new life and meaning. He relates his process to “doing a puzzle in reverse. The ceramics are found, the idea is formed, the base structure is built, the ceramic pieces are broken and then the sculpture is fabricated.” Chris’ work encourages people to ask questions of themselves and society as a whole. His fabrications comment on the spaces between memory, memento and story. “I want to find a place where I can create scenarios which allow people to question everything.”

“Everyone Wears A Clown Mask” Broken Ceramics on Wood Wall Sculpture, 28” x 21” x 11” — **“Everyone Wears A Clown Mask”** Broken Ceramics on Wood Wall Sculpture, 28” x 21” x 11”

One of Chris’ recent sculptures titled, “Silent Spring”, is a tribute to Rachael Carson’s ground-breaking book published in 1962, Silent Spring. This book, long before the environment was a point of contention, addressed the damage of the overuse of chemicals in the destruction of the environment and the death of wildlife.

Chris has also worked as a producer for ten years on television shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Man Show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Windy City Heat. In January 2019, the California Heritage Museum gave Chris his first solo how.