With talent beyond her years, a multi-disciplinary artist from the shore is making a name for herself in Hudson County
by Laura D.C. Kolnoski
After “constantly drawing” as a younger child, Alayne Macchiaverna was 13 when she began cutting up paper and magazines, separating them by colors and tones, then piecing them together to form images. She was soon creating portraits, underwater landscapes, and any other subject that drew her interest. Intending to major in biology at The College of New Jersey, the Toms River native changed course in high school.
“I had never really thought about pursuing art as a career; I just knew I loved doing it,” she related. “We started painting late in senior year, and from that point on I was hooked. My plans to study biology quickly changed into a major in Fine Art.” In her sophomore year, her sister Mary, an architect, was approached by the developers of The Gotham, a Jersey City luxury rental complex, who needed a muralist for their children’s playroom. Mary recommended her sister for the 1,000-squarefoot project.
“Daunting and exciting, this mural was just too good to turn down, financially and in terms of my career,” Macchiaverna said. “The developers were very happy with the finished product and the feedback was extremely rewarding, so I didn’t return for my spring semester.” Instead, she began working diligently with oil paints to build a solid portfolio. A Monmouth County family soon commissioned her to paint a mural based on the Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Places You’ll Go for their son—one of her favorite projects. To build excitement and anticipation, she wrote a detailed description beforehand.
“Upon completion, they told me they could not be happier with it,”Macchiaverna recalled. “I think I was more ecstatic than they were! That they trusted me to do something of such magnitude without a single sketch meant so much to me.” Now the “backbone” of her mural portfolio, these early murals generated numerous commissions.
It wasn’t long before Macchiaverna branched out to other media, including jewelry and clothing design and body painting, all of which evolved simultaneously and can be viewed on her website.
Often using dismantled vintage pieces, Macchiaverna creates unique new jewelry with gold, silver, polished brass, and stones, including Swarovski crystals.
Now residing in Jersey City, the artist maintains a studio at Mana Contemporary, a 1.5-million-square-foot multidisciplinary arts destination in the city founded in 2011. Macchiaverna found it via an article in The New York Times and knew immediately it was where she needed to be.
“It’s been such a learning experience, giving me the opportunity to discuss my work with people I would never encounter elsewhere,” she said. “There is an affluent group of artists working there that attract different collectors and galleries. In an exposure sense, it doesn’t get much better.” Painting as much as she can, Macchiaverna is “building up an arsenal” of works, while selling others. Her sources of inspiration are limitless, she said; fascinated by photo journalism, the civil rights movement, and late Renaissance sculpture, she married these themes into her painting “Cash No Checks,” creating a thought-provoking narrative within the composition.
“When the balance of the subjects is just right, the outcome can really be magical,” she said. “I love that type of juxtaposition; it’s exciting, even confusing at times, and really holds your attention.” Also gathering attention is her body painting, begun as a fun project that soon generated requests from clients including photographers and a singer whose Macchiaverna-painted body will appear on her album cover.
Next up is a solo show planned for the fall, followed hopefully by travels to Asia and Europe. She also wants to return to school to finish what she started and earn a Masters degree.
“I’m keeping my plans open, but I don’t think I see myself ever putting down a paintbrush,” Macchiaverna said. “It feels like a part of me. I’ll see where my paintings take me. I’ll just kind of be along for the ride.”
Alayne Macchiaverna @ Mana Contemporary
888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City / 732.597.6382 / alaynesmacchiaverna.com