NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection Exhibition, WaterFire Arts Center (2024) Bio:
Tracy Mahaffey has been a professional stone carver for nearly twenty-five years. The concentration of Mahaffey’s work is hand-carved memorials and gravestones, as well as inscriptional architectural carvings and sculptural pieces. Though stone is her first love, she has recently been exploring other materials such as clay and cast metals to create smaller more intimate commemorative work. Tracy lives, works, and plays in a cat sanctuary in Greene, Rhode Island. www.tracymahaffey.com
Original NetWorks Catalogue Bio:
“‘Written in Stone,’ as the saying goes. This is my work. Tap, tap, tap, announces the dance between mallet, chisel, and stone. The idea of a sculpted surface or dimensional plane with letters carved upon it adds a literal and physical element to the understanding of the words. For fourteen years, I’ve been a memorial artist, expressing people and their lives through the composition of lettering, relief carving, and sculpture in stone. My personal work is an extension of that experience.” Originally from New Jersey, Tracy Mahaffey received her BFA in Studio Arts, concentrating in sculpture, from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. She came to Rhode Island in 2000 to pursue the art and craft of stone carving, specifically the hand carving of gravestones. A professional stone carver, Mahaffey lives and works in Foster.
Source: NetWorks 2013 – 2014 Catalogue.
Vermont Purple Slate 12 x 9 x 1 in
Credits:
Video: Richard Goulis
Special Thanks: Karen Sprague, Justin Squizzero, and Adam Heller
Executive Producer: Joseph A. Chazan, M.D.
Additional Resources:
Artist’s website: tracymahaffey.com
Highlighting the work of selected artists who have played vital roles in shaping the contemporary visual arts community in Rhode Island. This collection of brief video portraits provides a window into the lives, practices, and cultural contributions of professional artists.
