Broken Dreams

Chris Fraticelli was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. A graduate of the US Naval Academy, he served as a Marine Corps combat engineer officer in campaigns in Somalia and Operation Desert Storm.  

As a platoon commander, Chris worked with mines and explosives, breaching the minefields with his marines, dismantling and disposing of explosive devices.

After completing his work in the military, and reaching the rank of Captain, Chris settled in Santa Monica. Looking at the world through a lens of humor, he worked as a producer on television shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Man Show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and the cult classic made-for-TV-movie, Windy City Heat.

Chris’s artistic sensibility was greatly influenced by the work of his Grandpa Louie. A coal miner and handyman by trade. Louie was also a found object artist. His body of work included a five-foot tall mushroom made from plumber’s pipe, concrete, paint cans, and venetian blinds. One of Chris’ earliest memories is watching four men lift the massive, cement mushroom cap onto the giant stem.

Chris travels Southern California’s coastal cities gathering ceramic figurines and statuary to break and reassemble into sculptures. In his earlier life in the military, Chris was surrounded by sand while blowing up objects; he now pieces objects back together into something new. His fabrications both comment on and question societal customs and institutions. He creates a physical transformation that seeks to find a novel meaning.