In Her Own Words,
an Interview with the Artist
By Maria Cocchiarelli

Constance DelVecchio Maltese venerates human achievement? painting subjects who illustrate potential made manifest. Many of the paintings, drawings and pastels on view at the Italian American Museum from November 29th, 2006 through January 12th, 2007 were selected from Maltese’s “American Women” series. Included amongst these portraits are such contemporary notables as: Dr. Anne Paolucci, Councilwoman Melinda Katz, and Senator Mary Lou Rath. Each tells herstory by Maltese’s expert narration with clues described pictorially within these complex compositions.

Preceding these works she produced a project of grand magnitude “The Age of Discovery Navigators.” For these Maltese drew upon written and visual records to offer her audience a unique vision of each of the New World Navigators. These were composed with many pictorial vignettes of varied images to create the whole picture. As in the rich traditions of Roman Portrait busts the personalities in these become enlivened by their expressions and characteristics unique to their physical appearance. In a way, Constance DelVecchio Maltese creates portraits based on her interests in history, her personal past, and current events that allow her to grow as a painter. Ultimately as she expresses in the following interview, she is interested in art for art’s sake, not idealizing her subjects but treating them as the raw material for art making. Contained within the following is an attempt to unveil a complex artist intent on creating work unique to her sensibility, modern in approach and responsive to contemporary issues.

Maria Cocchiarelli: Constance, can you tell me when you approach a portrait subject,
what is your interest in painting him/her?

Constance DelVecchio/Maltese: To be able to capture the character of the person more than just the visual effect that they make superficially.

MC: Can you define what you mean by character?

CM: Their characteristics, if they happen to have a habit, for instance, when you’re talking to them, as I do? using their hands. Of course if they make gestures, that maybe it would be a good idea to utilize that particular gesture in the portrait itself, or if they have an unusually a raised eyebrow, and you do that, it gives them more meaning to the way they really are and the people that know them, as soon as they look, they say, “Oh yes that’s them.” And it doesn’t necessarily have to have every hair in place as they would be, but their attitude comes through. A friend of mine used the word “essence” and I think that’s a good one.

MC: Are you interested in their psychology at all, or their inner angst?

CM: Feelings?

MC: Or struggle?

CM: It’s not so much angst but the way they feel about themselves, an example would be the portrait that I did of the athlete. When I first saw her she worked for my husband as an intern, and she had beautiful dark eyes and she had this upswept hairdo and the way it looked, she looked like a Gibson girl. And I asked her, “Marie, would you mind sitting for me?” And I had the outfit for her, I had the pink blouse with the high-neck collar with buttons, a little of a flared kind of dirndl skirt that flares out, and I had her hair up with little pearl earrings. She sat for me, but I could see that she was rather tense, and she had a really sad look on her face. I said, “Marie, what’s the matter?” “Well, you know I’m a little uncomfortable, and this is not the way I normally dress, it’s not really me.” And I said, “Well, what would you like to dress in?” She said, “Well, I’m a runner, supposing I come in my running clothes.” So I went along with it, and I said, “Okay, it’s not the side of you I’ve ever seen.” Because she was an intern in my husband’s office, I didn’t know she was a runner. In fact she had won a couple of medals so I said good, bring them along. And then she came back with it all, put it on, and she stood with her hand on her hip and she looked at me with great confidence, as would a champion. I said “Okay this is the way we’re going to depict you.” And it was great because then I could see that now she is who she really is, and it wasn’t my making her something that she wasn’t, (which was the interesting part of it). I kept both paintings. People looking at them both together wouldn’t even know that it’s the same person.

MC: I see. So often people have different sides to their personalities?

CM: Everybody sees you differently.

Maria Cocchiarelli is the Curator of Collections at the Italian American Museum in New York City. Most recently, she curated Antonio Petracca: Identity Theft (IAM 2006).