March 20, 2011: Kany, Daniel, “Art Review: Give Emerging Artists a Good Look”, The Portland Press Herald

March 23, 2011: Schroeder, Nicholas, “Review: A Cornucopia of Local Art at Aucocisco”, The Portland Phoenix

November 9, 2009: The Maine Sunday Telegram, "When the real and imagined collide: Veronica Cross"

Press Release:
Veronica Cross at Aucocisco Galleries: “New Works: Lost and Found”

PORTLAND, MAINE—As the Maine days grow shorter and the evening air crisper, Aucocisco Galleries is pleased to host an exhibition of new work by the painter Veronica Cross that is wrought in large part from the ephemeral memories of summer.

“New Works: Lost and Found” marks Ms. Cross’s first solo show at Aucocisco. A resident of Waterville, Maine since 2006, Cross has studied in New York City at the School of Visual Arts, the Art Students’ League and, SUNY’s Empire State College.

In terms of technique, Ms. Cross’s body of work has continually explored the potentials of layering on a canvas. Her paintings in the past have mixed printmaking, collage, and hand-cut stencils and spray paint with more traditional oil and acrylic paints.

“Lost and Found” both continues and expands upon this exploration with a suite of large canvases (the smallest being 34-inches by 34-inches) that layer oil, acrylic, and cut paper—a method that creates crisp contrast and evokes the flat, decorative quality of traditional children’s book illustration.

For subject matter, Ms. Cross has drawn inspiration in the past from the imagery and language of vintage advertising and pop culture. The paintings in “Lost and Found” also evoke the past, yet weave in a contemporary thread. Originally conceived of as a series of paintings based on vintage photos of children collected around Maine, Ms. Cross soon found herself also referring to her own recent photographs of kids and places that emphasized a sense of discovery. 

“I have been considering how we mark time and the subjectivity of memory,” says Ms. Cross. “We organize the evidence of events in order to reinforce our narrative….”

The resulting paintings—such as the massive oil on canvas “Three Boys,” which spans 74-inches by 50-inches—feel tinged with intimacy and wistfulness; they appear torn from a life-size album of photographs that span time and affiliation.

“These are the links to fleeting moments of recreation, wonder, obligation and everyday life,” says Ms. Cross. “The context of the natural world in these paintings is specifically parallel to the inner workings of the kids’ imaginations: there is overgrown vegetation, fertile fields of clover and grass, sovereign forests to get lost in.”

Veronica Cross “New Works: Lost and Found”

Reception: Friday, October 2, 5:00 – 8:00 PM

Showing: October 1 – 24, 2009  

November 2009