Deformology: Red Cross
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
7 X 7 in

I: DEFORMOLOGY ART  (A Study in Disfigured Form)

My most recent work torques images of the physical world into new narratives. Think: formally posed carnival side-show freaks and other bodily horrors captured in century-old photographic portraits. All of these pieces are based on old family photos scavenged from thrift stores and sidewalk sales. The first step is finding a picture that exudes the right kind of history. If I look at it and instantly start fantasizing about a backstory for these people as characters in a twisted play, I know I have the perfect foundation. I always have a nightmarish vision when first looking at the original image. This usually involves human disfigurement and the marring of skin. I know I am close to completion on these collages when I show them to other people and they instinctively laugh nervously and simultaneously look closer with amazement.
[copyright © 2016]

DEFORMOLOGY: Art Gallery
Deformology I: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
6.5 X 5.5 in.
Deformology II: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4.5 X 6 in.
Deformology III: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4.5 X 6 in.
Deformology IV: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4 X 6 in.
Deformology V: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4.5 X 6 in.
Deformology VI: Portraiture
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4 X 6 in.

Deform:

  • to mar the natural form or shape of; put out of shape; disfigure.
  • to make ugly, ungraceful, or displeasing; mar the beauty of; spoil.
  • to change the form of; transform.
Deformology: Grace
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
8 X 6 in.
Deformology: Insight
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
7.5 X 7 in.

Transform:

  • to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose.
  • to change in condition, nature, or character; convert.
  • to change into another substance; transmute.
Deformology: Distant Relatives
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
4 X 5 in.
Deformology: Skin Deep
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
5 X 3.75 in.

Mar:

  • to damage or spoil to a certain extent; render less perfect, attractive, useful, etc.; impair or spoil
  • to disfigure, deface, or scar
Deformology: Enunciate
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
7 X 7 in.
Deformology: Red Cross
(digital print on matte vellum)
by: Anthony Cianciolo
7 X 7 in.

Please Note

All of these digital collages are rendered out in high quality and then printed on antique looking vellum. The finished image feels like photographs found in a tattered, sepia-toned photo album from the late 1800s.