Unveiling Scratch the Surface: Experience Valerie Ottaviano's Art Starting August 7

Scratch the Surface explores themes of luck, love and chance, while examining the diversity of regional lottery tickets in America.

The pieces in the show utilize elements of discarded lottery scratch tickets and found objects..Everything from trashed books to thrifted textiles have found purpose .The 93 year old father of the artist contributed with his paint rags , then cut into hundreds of hearts in the piece named “ Big Love” Artist and Rhode Island resident Valerie Ottaviano lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, exposing her to the similarities and differences between the dominant Hispanic culture in LA and her own Portuguese background.

The two distinct styles in this show - Lady of Guadalupe and Pinup - are both inspired by and celebrated in Southern California. In Los Angeles, each year brings a Day of the Dead ticket, and a Chinese New Year edition. By contrast, in Rhode Island (where scratch tickets were invented), sports teams and Holiday themes are common. Yet across the entirety of the United States, games of fast chance and bright colors dominate, and instant salvation is so often sought.

The promise that a dollar can bring instant fortune -- or instant loss -- is both exciting and tragic. Whenever misfortune rules, so often the tickets are discarded, torn or even tossed on the ground. “Although that flicker of optimism ends for the player, I treasure each ticket that I find in the world. It transforms into a moment of good fortune for me,"

explains the artist. “It is Lady Luck being capricious."