Jeffrey DeCristofaro
Artist

United States

Jeffrey DeCristofaro (b. August 31, 1985) is a native of Tennessee, and current resident and local artist in Asheville, North Carolina.

Formerly homeschooled (from the 5th grade to the end of high school), with the exception of a few dual-enrollment courses at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute - and one Summer Filmmaking course at Winston-Salem's University of North Carolina School of the Arts in June-July 2003 - DeCristofaro graduated UNC-Asheville in May 2008 with a BA in Literature (Concentration Creative Writing, Minor Mass Communications), and is now currently enrolled in UNC-Asheville's Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) program.

In 2007, DeCristofaro added to his love for writing and cinema by writing a one-act play, "Dance of the Reeds" that was performed at the Flood Arts Gallery's "Play-garize This!" event, and later composed online PowerPoint lectures to accompany the film studies course textbook VIDEO PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES: THEORY AND PRACTICE FROM CONCEPT TO SCREEN, written by UNC-Asheville Mass Comm. Prof. Donald L. Diefenbach. DeCristofaro's poem "Trek of the Scorpion" and picture "Desert Eye" were published in the May 2006 and May 2009 issues of UNC-Asheville's creative arts magazine HEADWATERS. He was also part of the Spoken Word Poetics group, a local Asheville poetry troupe, and joined the f/32 Photography Group, a community of professional and aspiring photographers who shoot and discuss their works on a monthly basis.

DeCristofaro has been busy contributing to the performing arts, just as he has been busy in fulfilling his goals in education, writing, and visual arts. During his early teenage years, he was an acting student for the Charleston Stage Company and dancing student for the Robert Ivey Ballet. More recently, he has also performed on stage for the North Carolina Stage Company and Theatre UNC-Asheville, and was a wardrobe assistant for the Theatre UNC-Asheville stage productions of "The Philadelphia Story" and "JungalBook." He has also sung, as a baritone, for several choirs including the UNC-Asheville University Singers, the Asheville Symphony Chorus, and the Unitarian Universalist Choir of Asheville, the UU church in which he is also a member.

In addition to acting, DeCristofaro had modeled for local Western North Carolina photographers; he appeared in Jenny Bowen's "Faces of Asheville" documentary project and was published at age 24 as Top Model in the May 2010 issue of MODELING INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE, a monthly publication for which he also wrote several published articles. Several months later, at age 25, he was published again, this time as a photographer, in the Fall 2010 issue of Asheville's new independent arts magazine BLUE LOTUS REVIEW.

He continues to act in film, having performed for independent shorts and feature-length films - including the 2010 independent horror film WANDERLOST, for which he was both an extra and production assistant - and is a member of the Asheville Filmmakers Group, composed of local filmmaking artists living and working within the Western North Carolina region.

A founder of the new enterprise Desert Eye Productions (the logo and title derived from his photo published by HEADWATERS), DeCristofaro aspires to act, write and produce feature-length films (as well as direct a number of his own), while modeling, shooting photography, and writing & publishing his poetry on the side. He also dreams of launching and leading a global Neo-Renaissance that will change the world, break down old frontiers and establish new ones, and prove that there are no limits except those we each choose for ourselves.

Current Residence: Asheville, North Carolina
deviantWEAR sizing preference: Whatever Works Best!
Print preference: Paper (glossy photo prints/regular letter type)
Favourite genre of music: Movie soundtracks, classic pop/rock, classical, disco, new age, folk
Favourite photographer: Henry David Thoreau
Favourite style of art: Renaissance, Ancient/Classical, Neo-Gothic, Pre-Raphealite... or anything using a big canvas!
Operating System: DELL computers and software
Shell of choice: Nautiloid shell
Wallpaper of choice: Blue, with an ethereal mixture of orange and black tones.
Skin of choice: My Own!
Favourite cartoon character: Spiderman
Personal Quote: "There are no limits except those we each choose for ourselves."

www.facebook.com/JeffreyDeCristofaro