BROOKFIELD — A Newtown artist is one of three to have works featured in the current exhibition at Brookfield Craft Center.

Janice Mauro, Isabella Saraceni, and Ellen Schiffman are showing selections from their works in “Tangible Traces,” curated by Daisy Gesualdi and on view at 286 Whisconier Road until Sunday, April 24.

A closing reception is planned for Saturday, April 23, from 5 to 8 pm.

Admission for gallery viewing and the closing reception is free and open to the public.

“Tangible Traces” is an exploration of vulnerability through time and its connection with human existence. Vulnerability can appear in multiple forms, some tangible, others conceptually. It may appear as gradual aging, decay seen in nature, or worn walls of an ancient city.

In an attempt to understand and heal through spirituality and art, diving into it with confidence can create resiliency and strength. Each artist explores this concept in the works on view, through their diverse use of material and their connections to anthropology, archeology, spirituality, and the natural world.

In an ongoing partnership with Western Connecticut State University, Brookfield Craft Center supports the Department of Art through instructor-led, class-curated exhibitions. This year Daisy Gesualdi, a senior in the Department of Art, was selected to curate an exhibition representing the culmination of her four years of studies with WCSU.

A resident of Bethel, Gesualdi is pursuing her own personal art practice while cultivating her professional experiences working in galleries and museums in a variety of activities from curation to collections management. She currently works with Art & Frame in Newtown and recently interned with New Britain Museum of American Art.

She continues to volunteer with the college art gallery, assisting the university curator in the preparation and curation of exhibitions in The Gallery at the Visual and Performing Arts Center. Gesualdi will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts in painting and a minor in marketing.

Janice Mauro of Redding is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, the Artists Collective of Westport, and Silvermine Guild Member. She has exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City, The Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury, and New Britain Museum of Art in New Britain.

She has designed, carved, and modeled various puppets for New York Broadway productions including Julie Taymor’s The Lion King. Her monument of WWII soldier Sergeant Homer Lee Wise is installed in Veterans Park in Stamford.

Mauro was the studio assistant for the figurative sculptor Richard McDermott Miller (1922-2004). She served in the role of Coker Master Sculptor at Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. Her bronze fountain, “The Source,” is in the permanent collection on the grounds of Brookgreen Gardens. In 2019 she created The Brookgreen Medal which is now part of the permanent collection of The British Museum in London and The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Ellen Schiffman of Weston is a professional working artist for over 30 years, exhibiting work in galleries and museums nationwide. She is passionately committed to experimentation and exploration in creating her work.

In addition to the richness, complexity, and beauty achieved with her fiber art, Schiffman is also drawn to the historical and multi-cultural richness of fiber-making traditions. Each work reflects a fascination with texture, pattern, and sculptural forms.

Although fiber is often her jumping off point, she considers herself a multimedia artist. She is an avid explorer of materials, making use of traditional art materials such as paint, ink, and clay. Schiffman also turns to unexpected, often commonplace materials in her artwork. These include cotton twill tape, items from nature, found objects, ear swabs, and more.

Surprise and spontaneity characterize many of Schiffman's pieces, where inspiration is drawn from across cultures and time, and imagery inspired by the randomness of nature and the intentionality and splendor of human creations.

Isabella Saraceni of Newtown is a multimedia visual artist. A 2019 graduate of the University of Connecticut, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting. She has spent time studying in Florence, and has received a variety of awards including the University of Connecticut IDEA Grant.

Saraceni has participated in several Connecticut gallery exhibitions including at Five Points Annex Gallery in Torrington, VAIS Gallery in Storrs, and Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven.

Her current studio, located at Moss Creek Farm in Newtown, is where she gains her inspiration from the surrounding landscape, using this to guide her practice. She incorporates themes of environment, time, and physical presence, bridging the gap between herself and the natural world.

Brookfield Craft Center is open Tuesday through Friday, 12-5 pm; Saturday, 11 am-5 pm; and Sunday, 12-4 pm. The center continues to adhere to State of Connecticut COVID-19 protocols.

Call 203-775-4526 or visit BrookfieldCraft.org for additional information.