By using hand tools in my paintings I am honoring the human, the working class and it’s system of signs, symbols, tools and structures bringing both the hand and the tool, the human and the work, into the hierarchy of art making. Tools are used by the working class. A tool itself is used by a human being. Tools evoke physical labor. A tool is held by a person’s hand. Using it correctly requires knowledge of the use of that tool and a reason to use that tool. The physical body’s survival on this planet has depended upon the command of hand tools to build shelter, hunt prey, farm land, bury the dead, cook food, etc. As we devolve into virtual reality and watch as the distribution of wealth is diverted away from the working class, hand tools remind us of the reality that human survival depends on a keen grasp of the actual world and a love of real, hard physical work.

Val Sivilli

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Val Sivilli is a painter often using printmaking as a vehicle for expanding the image potential of a painting or a narrative series. A Brooklyn transplant, Val lives Art, teaches Art and exhibits Art. She lives in the Delaware Valley and holds an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and a BFA from SUNY Alfred. Val was a long time artist assistant to Leon Golub and Nancy Spero. She has been an Adjunct Professor of Art in various colleges as well as the director of the original Steamroller Gallery in Frenchtown New Jersey. She is a current member of the Steamroller Group, an artist collective. Val is also a founding member of “THAT, The Hunterdon Art Tour”, a county wide tour of Hunterdon County’s Artist Studios. Val is also the artist behind Civilian Art, a local graphic design and T-Shirt company. Val tends to remain close to the banks of the Delaware River on the west coast of New Jersey.