Glass Box Gallery Weekly Newsletter: “Pattern of Gestural Vibrancy” Opening Reception Mar. 6, 2025

Alice Frank | Writer

As the seasons change, and the green of the grass and blue of sky bides the bright colors of Springtime once more, a change in the "vibrancy” of the art on display at the Glass Box Gallery is apropos.

This Thursday, March 6, the Glass Box Gallery will host its second opening of 2025, “Pattern of Gestural Vibrancy” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Rothrock Library. The show will feature two Lehigh Valley natives, Danny Finocchio and Liv Lucas. 

Using mostly acrylic paint, some airbrush elements, and a patchwork of colorful yarn on a mesh background, both artists explore the use of color, pattern, and movement. While the show offers a component of cohesion through the vibrancy of color choice each artist examines in their work, there is an obvious juxtaposition in the sharpness of the lines differentiating each artists’ work. “Pattern of Gestural Vibrancy” is a show that offers audiences the opportunity to open their minds to a world filled with shape and color as we exit the dullness of the harsher winter months. It presents to us the creative process as an endless and ever-changing concept—constantly in flux. 

Both artists use bright colors and unique patterns to send a message through their work—one that uses the aforementioned to emit utter joy. 

Liv Lucas graduated from Moravian University with a double major in Studio Art and Biology. After experiencing two tragic losses towards the end of her senior year of college, Lucas shifted her career goals away from the realm of science and medicine, focusing solely on her artistic endeavors, uncovering unexpected opportunities in the world of tattoo art. Currently a full-time tattoo artist at Sick Ink Studios in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, Lucas is finding a balance between working on personal projects, many of which are featured in this show, and on her tattoo work. 

She has four pieces, however, that were done in her senior year of college. Despite the electrifying colors her work exudes, some of these pieces were created during a time of grieving. 

Lucas’ creative process is inspired largely by her emotions. Her work is reflective of the momentary feelings that consume a person’s heart and mind—whether it be joy, grief, frustration, etc. there is a certain element of creativity, subjective to that individual, that can allow them to dually express that emotion while creating something raw and new.  

“I would say it’s a lot of how I am feeling at the moment, political climate, things going on in my life…you can’t get it out of your mind [so] you get it out in your paintings,” Lucas says.

Lucas’ work is expressive, vibrant, and radiates emotion through her striking use of color and what it means to remain present—to neglect the perfectionism so many artists strive for. Her personal experiences of loss have shown her “you are always going to be a work in progress,” and that attempting to reach a point of total completion in any of your work is unrealistic and deleterious to the creative process.

Rarely using black in an attempt to maintain a certain component of emotion integral to her work, Lucas says, “I am very expressive in color…it’s more of a feeling.” 

The soft brush strokes of her paintings contrast the meticulously stark lines separating the shapes in the work of Danny Finocchio. This offers the audience a glimpse into the styles of two immensely talented artists, who both explore the expanse of color while maintaining their individual styles to compose original works of art. 

Finocchio has been practicing art for most of his life. Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, Finocchio drew constantly in his grandparents basement, before school, during school, and at any chance he could get. However, his artistic journey really escalated upon his acceptance into Kutztown University’s esteemed Communication Design program in which he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts. 

Currently based in Baltimore, with over a decade of professional experience, Finocchio has combined his many passions into a multi-faceted career in his work at his studio, Studio Finocchio, as well as his experience in the world of sports apparel. Since 2010, Finocchio has worked for brands such as Reebok, Mitchell & Ness, and is currently a Senior Designer at Under Armour. The combination of his love for sports and fashion has influenced much of his own work and experimentation with interwoven shapes which explore a nonuniform method of creation. 

Finocchio’s creative process begins with his sketchbook. His passion and drive to constantly be in a state of creation is what motivates him to transfer his “pattern-driven” work from the pages of his sketchbook to a canvas. 

“Drawing as a practice…it’s always what I’m doing. You have to cultivate a practice to create habits for yourself,” Finocchio says.

Much of Finocchio’s work is composed of a variety of overlapping shapes to create a discernible work of fine art and florals, as well as his iconic portraits of Allen Iverson and Michael Jordan depicted in a unique form. This imagery, combined with the idea that even the most iconic characters will ultimately “be consumed by nature,” explores themes of mortality and the future of technology. 

His style uses a certain precision which allows audiences to not just view his individual works as one painting, but forces the eye to dissect each individual object or symbol within that particular piece. Ultimately creating a distinctive style of art derived from Finocchio’s innate ability to construct an unparalleled work of art.

Despite the sharply defined separation of objects and people in his paintings, Finocchio uses complimentary colors to give vibration to his work—providing realism to the unrealistic and creating an element of illusion.

There are obvious differences in both artists’ personal styles, however, both Lucas and Finocchio have a knack for using color to stir intensity in their work. 

Featuring two brilliant artists who radiate the passion that fuels their creative processes, this show will be jam-packed with phenomenal art. The joy contained within “Pattern of Gestural Vibrancy” will be eminent during its stay in the gallery. Through the gallery’s glass doors, this show will radiate ecstasy through the vivid movement both color and shape provides, as well as, the evident hard work and dedication of both artists to their craft.

The opening reception will take place in the Glass Box Gallery on Mar. 6, 2025 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Rothrock Library on LCCC's campus. For more on the artists and their work, visit their websites!

Danny Finocchio: https://studiofinocchio.com/

Liv Lucas: https://www.olivialucasart.com/