By Adam Blanchard
Plattsburgh Senior Virginia “Ginny” Lucchetti grew up surrounded by art.
Raised in Syracuse, the soon-to-be art school graduate was inspired by a world of comic panels and paintings. Lucchetti attributed much of her artistic inspiration to her father, who kept the walls of her childhood home covered in art.
“A lot of it does derive from my dad because my dad’s fixations kind of projectile vomited onto me,” Lucchetti said.
As she moved into the academic world, Ginny was attracted to the arts. An important step in her path as an artist was when she took AP art in senior year of high school. Lucchetti spent the majority of her free time in the art room, despite only the class being her only art class that year.
“Math didn’t make sense to me, nor science, but for some reason art was just something that always clicked for me,” Lucchetti said.
Now so close to graduating, Ginny is navigating the world of professional art.
In August, Lucchetti had a partnership with video editing app Video Star, where she was hired to create an animation for the company.
In Plattsburgh, Ginny has been featured in the Studio Select Exhibit in the John Myers Fine Arts Building and assisted in creating a film with fellow Cardinal Tessy Huntley, which was featured at the Strand Center for the Arts.
The unexpected collaboration was a high point for Ginny.
“I never thought that would happen, like, ever, so it was a good feeling,” Luchetti said. “It was really well received.”
Lucchetti is experienced with many mediums, ranging from digital media, to ceramics to soft pastels. When it comes to personal preferences, Lucchetti said she has a soft sport for oil pastels and paints.
Lucchetti has an expansive portfolio on her website virginialuchetti.com. Her artist’s statement explains that through her work, Lucchetti aims to explore themes of strength, vulnerability and growth through the inspirations of design elements found in the magical girl genre of media that inspired her. She credits the genre’s focus on coming-of-age stories centered on transitioning from girlhood to womanhood as themes that “resonated deeply” with her.
In the future, Lucchetti plans to go to graduate school for illustration focusing on painting and drawing. After grad school, Lucchetti’s dream is to land a job for an indie studio as an animator or storyboard artist while also maintaining work as a freelancer.
“I hate how short life is because I just want to do so many different things,” Lucchetti said. “I want to work on a movie as a storyboard artist, or a concept artist or something like that.”
Lucchetti often finds herself reflecting on what will become of art in the future. She feels the importance of art is misunderstood and overlooked, but can be found even in the simplest things.
“Even when people are like, ‘Oh, a circle isn’t art,’ it’s like, yeah it is. It’s making you feel something. It’s making you feel enraged, that’s art,” Lucchetti said. “It kind of pains me that not everyone can see it that way, but I think it’s really beautiful.”
