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ARTIST BIOS
Tony Faiola is an American painter, and printmaker, designer, and scientist from New York who lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio USA. Faiola’s work explores the abstraction of simplified objects in architectural space, what he refers to as meta-statements on geometric form, with themes inspired by the human condition. Faiola’s work and lecturing abroad has deeply inspired and informed his understanding of the mental health of its citizens, as reflected in his work. Originally trained as a printmaker, he gravitated toward painting in the late 1970s.
Faiola received his fine arts education: BFA (SUNY New Paltz), MA (SUNY Albany), and MFA (Ohio State University) in printmaking. He later received his MA (Ohio State University) in design and his PhD (Purdue University) in Communication. He studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino, Italy in 1976, and is a three-time Fulbright Scholar to Russia in 2000, 2002, and 2003.
His most recent group exhibitions include the Indianapolis Art Gallery, Indianapolis, IN (painting: The Healthy Patient), GFAA Gallery, Gainesville, FL (painting: Mental Health, v2 – Best in Show), and University Museum, Albany (giclée print: People Alone). Faiola has been working on a new body of work, which he is currently promoting.
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ARTIST STATEMENT:
The simplified shapes of my work underscore my interest in the human condition. These ideas have come primarily from my observation of a growing sense of loneliness and mental dysfunction that pervades society, both in the U.S. and around the world. Much of these considerations grew out of my many years of living in and traveling to Russia (1991 to 2018). These notions have increased over the last five years since traveling to China, India and Saudi Arabia, and most strongly throughout and following the COVID pandemic.
As a health scientist, I’ve spent enough time in clinical environments where I observe patients who are very ill, e.g., with cancer or pulmonary infections. My observation of these patients and their family members has had a considerable impact on my empathy for their suffering. Being a patient in critical care is a very lonely experience, cut off from one’s community and family, and the world you know.
As a medical researcher, my work focuses on the development and clinical testing of digital health solutions, including VR medical therapeutics, diagnostic biosensors, and mobile health. These technologies support the treatment of cancer, dementia and stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment. Like artists of the past and present (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci, Anicka Yi, Neri Oxman, Edward Tufte), I find divergent thinking between art and science, as a means to maximize his intellectual curiosity in seeking new visual forms.
In sum, my work becomes a dialogue about empathy for the frailty of human life and our endless quest to transform it.
My work includes paintings created in oil, acrylic, encaustic on canvas and paper. My work also includes giclée prints and drawings.
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Note 1: Much of my thinking on this topic has been further confirmed after reading two published studies, titled: Mental pain as a global person-centered outcome measure (2021)[i] and Chronic pain and mental health (2018).[ii] In many cases, these ideas have informed the titles of my art.
[i] Cosci F, Mansueto G, Benemei S, Chiarugi A, De Cesaris F, Sensky T. Mental pain as a global person-centered outcome measure. CNS Spectr. 2021 Jul 27:1-7. doi: 10.1017/S1092852921000699. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34311805.
[ii] Kohrt BA, Griffith JL, Patel V. Chronic pain and mental health: integrated solutions for global problems. Pain. 2018 Sep;159 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S85-S90. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001296. PMID: 30113952; PMCID: PMC6130207.
Note 2: As an added note, my exploration of portrait or figurative art represents my personal interest in culture, family, and self-expression.
Note 3: Find Faiola’s faculty page HERE.
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Photo Credit: Photo taken on the Great Wall, China, 2011.