Artist Volpacchio's Quarter-Century Journey on Display

By James Peddle

Salem, MA - John Volpacchio loves two-dimensional art. But just to look at. Not to create.

“I never liked 2-D art,” the artist and educator said at a gallery talk at the Winfisky Gallery on Wednesday, February 17. “I like looking at it, but not doing it.”

The Winfsiky Gallery at Salem State University is featuring 25 years of Volpacchio’s three-dimensional work in a show called “Full Circle 25+.”

​“3-D art is tangible and real to me,” Volpacchio continued.

The artist, who has taught at SSU for 16 years, explained that “scale” is a large part of his work. There was a large lithograph on the back wall of the gallery that he said would not be the same piece if it were printed on a smaller scale.

“There is place in my life for 2-D art. I plan to start up again,” said Volpacchio.

At the gallery talk, Volpacchio discussed his journey to becoming an artist, which included founded SSU’s Glassworks Studio in 2005 and securing about $500,000 in funding. He received his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1982, and went on to complete his Masters of Fine Arts at the University of Colorado.

The artist, who said he considers himself “an artist first, and an educator second,” noted that he teaches to have the money to allow himself to continue making art. He added that he primarily works in three dimensions and does not focus on one specific style or time period. He was inspired by styles such as modern art, to renaissance art, to Venetian glass.

“Renaissance art, the human form shows up in a lot of my work, so again, even though I may be making a mold, I’m thinking of it as a contour, or as shape that could be part of a human body,” he explained.

As a youth, Volpacchio traveled with his parents.

“Going and traveling al over the world was a key element to my development into an artist,” he explained. His parents’ work ethic also effected his work.

“They kept asking me: ‘If you want to be an artist, that’s fine, but can you make money? Can you get a job?’” Volpacchio remembered.

Volpacchio said that when he is producing art, when he is satisfied, he is “disappointed,” since he believes on should always push oneself to get better.

“I have never been satisfied with mediocrity, but I have given up on perfection,” said Volpacchio.

One of Volpacchio’s students who attended the talk was Cameron MacLeod, a nursing major taking a glass blowing class with the artist.

“I thought it was excellent,” MacLeod said. “I liked how he talked not necessarily about the pieces, but the process, and the journey of his life.”

Also in attendance was the Director of Merchandising for the Peabody Essex Museum Lynne Francis-Lunn.

“We have probably been selling John’s work in the store for about eight years,” said Francis-Lunn. “I am amazed with the breadth of the work, that it’s just so diverse.”

The “Full Circle 25+” show runs at the Winfisky Gallery at the Ellison Campus Center, SSU North Campus through Wednesday, March 2 at 2:00 p.m.