Not the sum of its parts

Cathy Della Lucia on making "Fish Tales," in "Constituent Parts" at Boston University

Cathy Della Lucia, Fish Tales, 2025. Fishtail oak, Baltic birch plywood, teak, beech, poplar, flocking, aluminum, epoxy clay, paint, dye, stain, varnish, 38 x 14 x 3 in. In Constituent Parts at BU’s 808 Gallery. All images courtesy Cathy Della Lucia

What makes us whole – individually and as a collective? Cathy Della Lucia’s sculptures address these big questions. She’s in Constituent Parts, a two-person show with painter Nicholas Anthony Mancini, at 808 Gallery at Boston University through March 7.

Cathy’s sculptures read at once like strange machines, sumptuous art objects, and complicated people. Their surfaces, which include wood, paint, clay, silicone and more, beg to be touched and their curves caressed. Their Swiss-Army-knife like construction, though, seem to forbid contact; you’re drawn to touch, but you might lose a finger. And they’re enigmatic: Even knowing I was looking at an abstract sculpture, my mind clicked along naming what each part reminded me of, what the whole might be used for.

Cathy’s sculptures spring in part from her experience as a transracial adoptee. Those who grew up with utter clarity about our identity in the world are privileged. Others get to wondering – not just “who am I,” but “how do I fit in?” Every part has its place in Cathy’s works, but there’s always the question: How does this fit? The more you examine, the more there is to discover.

We all operate within convoluted, constantly changing systems: An identity, a family, an institution, a society, a world order. How do all the parts come together to operate in service of the whole, and still maintain wholeness within themselves?