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By Milena Katz
Parkhurst Exchange, September 2006
Yet, in this minimal amount of time she's taken the British Columbia
art world by storm. Twenty-odd years of painting part-time and taking
art courses while rearing three children, including a degree in graphic
design at the University College of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford,
jelled perfectly once she had the opportunity to focus on her artwork.
Acierno is drawn to still life. As inanimate as many of her subjects
are, i.e. marbles and tea kettles, they are infused with life once the
artist renders them on canvas. This is no accident. This Nanaimo
resident has established a procedure that includes placing objects
in all manner of combinations until she finds one that imbues them
with human qualities. First, she sets aside time to take 100-200
photographs of different configurations of the chosen articles. These
are then used as reference and inspiration for paintings, sometimes
waiting years for that role. Once Acierno decides which photo "speaks"
loudest to her, she etches a rudimentary line drawing onto a gesso-
prepared canvas. She doesn't sand down the 2-4 layers of gesso
so as to fashion a 3-D feel. Many layers of paint are then applied
to a grisaille (a monochromatic sketch), giving the finished product
a beautiful luminous quality. Despite the heightened sense of realism
evoked in her paintings, Acierno succeeds in letter her viewers know
they aren't looking at a photograph, and allows them to concentrate
on the "timelessness of the beauty of simple things surrounding
us in daily life" instead.