Cambridge Arts’ Gallery 344 Exhibits Killiany’s Original Paintings and Special Processes for Durable Versions of his Art in Louis A. DePasquale Universal Design Playground

Indoor experience of the scale, range, development and intricacies of Killiany’s work enriched my connections with his art throughout the playground. The exhibit, up until the end of August, is an opportunity for adults and children to understand this artist’s creative vision. Here are my photos, with quotes and links to resources that can add to your appreciation of Killiany’s art, whether or not you are climbing close to it.

“Dominic Killiany’s visionary paintings of Boston’s Zakim Bridge, street signs, fish, a lion, zebra, elephant and giraffes were reproduced as murals in the Louis A. DePasquale Universal Design Playground at Danehy Park.” (quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

“Now see his original works in the exhibition “What I See” on view at Cambridge Arts’ Gallery 344, 344 Broadway, second floor, Cambridge, from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2023.” ( quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

“Killiany, a prolific artist living with autism, has resided in a group home in Watertown since summer 2020 and has lately been painting at Turtle Studios in Newton. The exhibition will also feature the intricate pencil drawings that lie hidden beneath the bright, thick acrylic paint.” ( quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

At age 14, “he took an interest in painting-by-numbers,” Cicconi says. “If you think of paint-by-numbers, the diagrams look like little puzzle pieces. … He focused mainly on how to make shapes to form a composition.” The following year, “he was making his own compositions.”( quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

“We are so honored as a family that Dominic’s artwork was chosen for perpetuity to represent this Universal Design Playground,” his mother, Susan Cicconi, said. “Children as well as adults can skip and jump to happy, colorful, patterns and feel the collective tribe of animals as our own families. The paintings spark conversation and imagination. Some of them take us to familiar places and others are like giant puzzles and mazes. It’s a really fun place.”( quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

“In the spring of 2020, 10 of his paintings in variable dimensions of “digifuse” panels were chosen for permanent exhibit at the Louis DePasquale Universal Design Playground at Danehy Park in Cambridge, MA.“( quote from DOMINICREATIONS, About)

Killiany painted landscapes, then animals. He reinterprets photos as line drawings in pencil, then fills each shape in with paint. At times, he numbered his own sketches like paint-by-number diagrams before painting them. Then he numbered all the spaces in sequence. ( quote from Cambridge Arts Gallery 344 )

“Dominic’s art is his passion. As an autistic artist, art is his visual poetry and connection to the world. His thoughts, emotions and expression are represented through a symbolic language of theme, color, texture, composition and material. Through the dynamic interplay of universal elements of light and dark, geometric shapes, letters and numbers, he transforms his observations and solitude into a fluid language of abstract expressionism.” ( quote from DOMINICREATIONS, About )

“Digifuse was used to replicate Killiany’s paintings at the Universal Design Playground. It is a new process that fuses images onto metal panels, which creates a highly durable surface with vivid reproduction qualities.“  (text from digifuse sample in Gallery 344 exhibit)

Key Resources

“What I See” on view at Cambridge Arts’ Gallery 344

D O M I N I C R E A T I O N S Dominic Killiany’s website https://www.dominicreations.com/

Link to valuable video of Dominic Killiany’s work:

https://www.dominicreations.com/single-post/2018/09/25/dominic-killiany-promo-video

TAKE PART IN PUBLIC ART AT UNIVERSAL DESIGN PLAYGROUND, DANEHY PARK, CAMBRIDGE

Cambridge Arts, Public Art, Dominic Killiany at Universal Design Playground