Apr 22, 2013

Dreams, jackrabbits, male/female figures -these and more- are the stuff of Lania D’Agostino’s artwork. Resin, plaster, oils, wood and metal are just a few materials that D’Agostino employs masterfully in her art which include drawings, paintings, and sculpture. She makes life cast figures using a multi-step casting process she developed. Because the first step in the process begins with an actual person, she says, “it captures all the wonderful variations of what people call faults in the skin.”

: Artist Lania D’Agostino is pictured in her studio. The rabbit figures behind her are part of her Jackrabbit series. The sculpture at right is a sculpture from her series called, “Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu.” (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: These life cast figures are part of an art series title Gender Identity and Body Image Awareness Project by artist Lania D’Agostino. The figures were created using a multi-step casting process, beginning first with the human body. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The heads represent some of the steps involved when Artist Lania D’Agostino makes a life cast figure. The final product at right is a resin head.(Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Lania D’Agostino holds a resin head. This is the final product in a mult-step casting process that begins with the actual head of a person. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Artist Lania D’Agostino used a variety of sculpting and casting techniques to create each of the heads pictured in the cubicles. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Lania D’Agostino carved this head from plaster. The figure addresses the subject of aging. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios sands a scrap of wood which she’s making into a female figure. She is pictured in her studio where she creates art including paintings, sculpture and life cast figures. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Artist Lania D’Agostino uses a jig saw on a scrap of wood to create a female figure. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Artist Lania D’Agostino of uses a jig saw on a scrap of wood to create a female figure. She is pictured in her studio where she creates art including paintings, sculpture and life-cast figures. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: These are just some of the tools that artist Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios uses to create art that includes paintings, sculpture and life-cast figures. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Artist Lania D’Agostino is pictured in her studio. The figures at right are part of her Jackrabbit series. D’Agostino says the Jackrabbit theme evolved when she “was experiencing my own gender identity. The jackrabbit could express emotion in a figure without relating directly to gender.” She has perfected a technique of attaching paper onto a wood canvas. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The globe in the foreground is part of a series titled, Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu, created by artist Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios. In the background is a painting froom her Jackrabbit series. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The drawings and paintings are part of the series titled, Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu, created by artist Lania D’Agostino. The paintings were painted within the past month. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The boy with the red cross is part of a series titled, Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu, created by artist Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The ballerina in the center is a life cast figure of Anais, age 11, made by her mother, artist Lania D’Agostino. The taller ballerina at left is a mannequin re-built by D’Agostino. The latter was part of a mall Christmas project with the “Twelve Days of Christmas” theme. Surrounding the two ballerinas are mannequins she uses for movie set rentals and some of the museum projects -not for her artwork. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The life cast head of the girl at right tops a life cast figure of Anais, age 11, made by her mother, artist Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios. D’Agostino uses the mannequin at left and other mannequins in the background she uses for movie set rentals and some museum projects -not for her artwork. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: These life cast figures are part of an art series title Gender Identity and Body Image Awareness Project by Artist Lania D’Agostino. D’Agostino says the process captures, ” all the wonderful variations of what people call faults in the skin that we (artists) find more exciting.” The first step in the process begins with an actual person. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Tubes of paint surround a painting which is part of artist Lania D’Agostino’s series called, Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu. She uses both acrylics and oils. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: The life cast figure of the man in the foreground is one of artist Lania D’Agostino’s favorite figures she created, beginning with an actual person followed by several steps in creating a mold of the person to cast. Surrounding the cast figure are mannequins she uses for movie set rentals and some of the museum projects -not for her personal artwork. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

: Artist Lania D’Agostino of D’Agostino Studios is pictured in the section of the studio where she paints and draws. She also creates sculpture, lifecast figures and other artwork. (Algerina Perna/Baltimore Sun)

D’Agostino makes a distinction between the life cast figures she creates for her business where she’s following someone else’s design, and the figures she creates for her art. Many business projects include figures for museums. She has also made figures for international traveling displays such as the Star Wars Exhibit for Lucas Films.

Born and raised in Bridgeman, Michigan, D’Agostino spent a lot of time drawing as a child and received praise for her talent. While a teenager, she was inspired by sculptor George Segal who cast life-size figures in plaster bandages. She moved to Baltimore in 1982 and graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 1985 with a fine art degree in sculpture.

Though the materials used to create her art vary, she says theres is always a spiritual component, whether she’s painting a childlike figure with large expressive eyes from her series, Childhood Dreams, Memories and Deja Vu, or making life cast figures of a transgendered people for her work titled, Gender Identity and Body Image Awareness Project, or working on other projects.

D’Agostino, who never had a painting class, says, “I never think about what I’m going to paint before I paint. I start drawing first.” Referring to her Dream series, she says, “I could see they all related to childhood. You don’t know if it’s an actual memory, dream or deja-vu, but they have the sense of familiarity.”

She says another painting series, Jackrabbit, which she started two years ago, “came at a time when I was exploring my own gender identity. The jackrabbit could express emotion in a figure without relating directly to gender.”

D’Agostino’s describes her work as personal, universal and spiritual. “My work is an exploration of myself. I find it’s very personal in a lot of ways. I find that it’s very global in a way that a lot of people relate to it. It’s emotional work. I think people can feel the emotion that comes from it…I’m a spiritual artist and it doesn’t matter which medium I have in front of me.”

The artistry of Lania D’Agostino

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