About Cindy
Cindy's art--maximal and eclectic--reflects her experiences as a world traveler and her time spent living in such places as Spain, France, Japan, Morocco, Colombia, and Burkina Faso. This exposure to other countries and cultures has led her to embrace diversity and universal connectivity--two prevalent themes in her art.
Awash
My intent in creating these paintings is to depict the diverse, often over-stimulated world in which we live and show both the positive and negative aspects of that world. I perceive daily life as both a collage of random elements that envelop us in a sort of digital fallout but also as a celebration of possibilities. By using a variety of colors, textures, shapes, and styles, I hope to stretch the parameters of cohesiveness and create a sort of universal jigsaw, which creates harmony and chaos simultaneously. I chose as a title for this series, the word “awash,” which means “flooding,” “saturation,” “overflowing,” but the word “awash” also draws parallels with a washing machine, an appliance that blends together disparate elements in a rhythmic, cyclical, uniformity. The blending I use is three-fold. First there is a blending of content that includes literal and ambiguous images. Secondly there is a blending of diverse media such as spray paint, metallic leaf, oil paint liquid plastic, and glitter. Thirdly, there is a blending of diverse artistic processes such as brush painting, spray painting stenciling, dripping, and scraping through previous layers of paint. However, unlike the metaphor of a melting pot, which also serves as a symbol for diversity, a washing machine blends together contrastive forms while at the same time maintaining their separate identity.
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Up Cycle
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 48x72
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Down Cycle
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 48x72
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Cyclic
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, glitter, on canvas, 36x36
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Bubbles
oil, metallic leaf, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36 X 36
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Colors and Whites
oil, metallic leaf, pearl pen, textured spray paint, on canvas, 24 X 24
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Cyclical
oil, metallic leaf, pearl pen, textured spray paint, on canvas, 24 X 24
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Don't Fence Me In
oil, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36x36
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Fabrics
oil, silver leaf, gold leaf, pearl pen, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36x36
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Carousel
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, on canvas, 24x24
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Churning
oil, textured spray paint, enamel spray paint, on canvas, 24x24
Celebrations
CELEBRATIONS
In this series I explore different forms of celebration and the subsequent emotions they elicit such as excitement, violence, radiance, gaiety, and fleetingness. I combine a variety of media on canvas to create explosions of contrasting forms which, on the one hand, evoke digital age bombardment, but on the other hand, celebrate the creative process itself. I subscribe to a maximal approach to painting that I believe reflects the current age in which we are living, an age in which one is presented with information faster than one can digest it, the result bringing about a simultaneous sensation of exhilaration and chaos. Although the paintings look like collage, they are, in fact, entirely painted. I use fragmented images resembling collage and juxtapose these with undulating, amorphous, organic forms, simultaneously depicting the forces of creation and destruction. Paradoxically, these elements of destruction, in the form of scraps from my personal environment as well as the world at large, link to larger parts from whence they came, so, the part becomes the whole. The juxtaposition of air-brushed and textured surfaces also creates ambiguity, with the resulting tableau treading the thin line between violence and celebration. I am Fascinated by the interplay of opposites and believe that when one shows contradictory elements back to back, one also suggests the territory that lies in between. It is this nebulous “in-between” territory that interests me, for it is this part that engages the viewer in the creative process.
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Effervescence
oil, metallic leaf, glitter, textured spray paint, 36 X 36.
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Celebration
oil, archival ink, metallic leaf, acryllic, on canvas, 36 X 36.
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Rainbow Splash
oil, metallic leaf, glitter, pearl pen, textured spray paint, on canvas, 48x48
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Party
oil paint, metallic leaf, glitter, on canvas, 36 X 36
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Rainbow Unleashed
oil, metallic leaf, on canvas, 24 X 24.
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Festive
oil, enamel spray paint, on canvas, 24x24
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Fete
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, on canvas. This is a two-panel painting with each panel measuring 24 X 36.
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Wedding
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, on canvas. This is a two-panel painting, with each panel measuring 24 X 36.
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Gala
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, glitter, on canvas. This is a two-panel painting, with each panel measuring 24 X 36.
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Housewarming
oil gold leaf, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36x48
Rainbows
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Dancing Rainbowoil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Explosion in the Rainbow Factoryoil on canvas, 48 X 48
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Rainbow Shardsoil, acrylic, archival ink, on canvas, 36 X 36
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Rainbow Bubblesoil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Double Rainbowoil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Twenty-One Lipstick Salute"21 Lipstick Salute," oil, metallic leaf, glitter on canvas, 36 X 48
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Rainbow Trumpetsoil, metallic leaf, glitter, on canvas, 24 X 24
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Rainbow Swathoil, metallic leaf, glitter on canvas, 24 X 24
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Rainbow Unleashedoil on canvas, 24 X 24
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Sparkling Wateroil, metallic leaf, glitter, 36 X 36.
Photo-Scapes
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Clogged Drainoil on archival ink printed canvas, 36 X 36
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Realoil on photo canvas, 11 X 14
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Ezijooil, gold leaf, on archival ink canvas, 11 X 14
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Lava Flowoil and archival ink print on canvas, 16x20
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The Newoil, textured spray paint, on archival ink print, 11x14
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Hodgepodgeoil, textured spray paint, gold leaf, on archival ink print, 11x14
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Tornoil on photo canvas, 11 X 14
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Water Wheeloil paint on canvas archival ink print, 16 X 20
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Polymorphoil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, on archival ink printed canvas, 16 X 20
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Inside-Outoil, metallic leaf, textured spray paint, pearl pen, on archival ink print, 24x36
Fantasy-Scapes
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines "fantasy" as a "free play of creative imagination; a fanciful design or invention." These scapes are not realistic venues, but they are similar to clouds in the way that interpretation depends on individual perception. The word "scape" also suggests "escape," yet it is never possible to escape reality entirely in that we are always anchored to our physical surroundings. In all of these paintings there are elements of the fanciful and the literal, suggesting that no matter how hard one tries to make imaginative leaps, there is always a residue of the concrete--scraps, so to speak--that linger, that connect, that stimulate more journeys. Like all journeys, there is always a starting point; for me, it could be something as literal as a road sign, or as abstract as an epiphany. After I start on my journey, I try to relinquish control as much as possible to see where the idea leads. I'd like the viewer to engage in a visual odyssey, go beyond the visceral, make intuitive connections, and tap into the sub-conscious mind.
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Dancing Rainbow
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Double Rainbow
oil, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36x36
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Epiphany
oil on canvas, 48 X 48
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Afterglow
oil, metallic leaf, pearl pen, on canvas, 36x36
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New Directions
oil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Bubble Dance
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 24x24
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Cyberscape
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 48x48
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Yellow Brick Road
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 36x36
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Streaming
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, enamel spray paint, on canvas, 24x24
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Dancing Bubbles
oil and enamel spray paint on canvas, 24x24
Interior-Scapes
As the word "interior" suggests, these paintings deal with scenes within well-defined boundaries. These boundaries could be a box, a hallway, or a room. I was inspired by my gadget drawer--something most of us have at home, a sort of catch all for odds and ends. This drawer, unlike the cutlery drawer or the medicine cabinet, is characterized by its randomness and may contain typical household items such as matches and measuring tape or detritus such as gum wrappers and pieces of ribbon. Ironically, this assortment of disparate objects blends together in a way that makes perfect sense. Open the drawer, and it tells a story; it presents a personal, haphazard glimpse of its owner. Even in the frenzied assortment of random stuff, there's a sort of harmony. Metaphorically, a gadget drawer is the reflection of the subconscious in that the dream world also abounds in diverse symbols and bits of information that link together to form seemingly logical connections. Likewise, in waking life we are bombarded with scraps of information from the digital age in which we live. Because this digital fallout is incomplete and held together by tenuous threads, the viewer must "connect the dots" and finish the narrative. My goal in creating these pictures is to stretch the parameters of cohesiveness while at the same time maintaining pictorial harmony. The scraps in my pictures come from whatever happens to be in my immediate environment at a given time. I then use this information to craft an interior landscape and promote an open-ended dialog.
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In the Closet
oil on canvas, 39 X 39
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Bazaar
oil on canvas, 36x36
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Dressing Room
oil and gold leaf on canvas, 24 X 30
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On the Table
Oil on canvas, 24 X 24
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In the Bedroom
Oil on canvas, 24 X 24
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In the Jewelry Box
oil, metallic leaf, on canvas, 24x24
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Boudoir
Oil on panel, 18 X 24
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Office Space
oil, metallic leaf, on canvas, 20x20
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Stairway
oil on canvas 24 X 24
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Music Room
oil on canvas, 36 X 36
Un-Escapes
An antithesis to "Fantasy-Scapes," the "Un-Escapes" series focuses more on destruction than creation and confronting rather than avoiding reality. The creative catalyst for these paintings was the exploration of the apocalypse archetype and the inevitability of such manmade and natural disasters as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, crashes, explosions, and viral infections. While all of these events are tinged with fear, the greatest underlying fear is the fear of death and the imprint this fear leaves on daily existence. This life-versus-death dichotomy appears on the canvas as splashes of color against black voids; while the looming shadow of death conveys a feeling of dread, its omnipresent certainty is what enriches the human spirit and helps shape individual existence. My intention is not to shroud a negative event in tragedy, but instead to show its complicity in the life cycle. In that sense, the paintings perpetuate the cycle of destruction and creation. They function as a sort of Hindu triumvirate, or a Phoenix rising again from its own immolation.
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Storm
Oil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Crash
oil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Apocalypse
Oil on canvas, 24 X 24
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Earthquake
oil on canvas, 36 X 36
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Twister
oil and metallic leaf on canvas, 20 X 30
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Wrecking Ball
Oil on canvas, 24 X 24
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Blitz
Blitz, oil paint, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, spray enamel paint, on canvas, 30 X 36
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Clogged Drain
oil paint on archival ink print, 36x36
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Barriers
oil, enamel paint, metallic leaf, pearl pen, textured spray paint, on canvas, 30x40
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I Spy
oil, textured spray paint, metallic leaf, on canvas, 24x30
Animal Archetypes
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Party Animalsoil on canvas, 36x48
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Lion and Tigeroil on canvas, 36x48
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The Elephant in the Roomoil on canvas, 30x40
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Cat on a Hot Tin Roofoil and gold leaf on canvas, 30x40
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Old Birdoil on canvas, 18x36
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Piggyoil on canvas, 18x36
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Wolf Spiritoil on panel, 14x20
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Bear Spiritoil on panel, 20x28
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Horse Poweroil on canvas, 18x24
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Pitbulloil on canvas, 18x36
Remnants
Remnants. They are pieces of something else; they are incomplete; they are vehicles to larger ideas, like words are pieces of language and numbers are pieces of mathematical equations. The scraps in these paintings function in much the same way as Lichtenstein's dots, Pollack's drips, or Davis's stripes in that they are quarks--small particles that combine to make a whole of something, but paradoxically, evoke ideas of destruction, a ripping apart of something, a digital disintegration. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary defines a remnant as "a trace, a last remaining indication of what has been," so the viewer must connect the dots to fill in the empty spaces and find closure. These "dots" are pieces of a fragmented universe, functioning simultaneously as by-products of information smog as well as archetypal motifs. In the process of connecting the dots, a scrap becomes the seed from which subsequent ideas are generated. They facilitate multifarious perspectives, but because of their incompleteness, they allow for limitless dialog. South African artist William Kentridge believes that "it is the job of the artist to smash the vase and then fashion something coherent out of the shards." These shards are arbitrary remnants of information that are "reprocessed on the canvas and reprocessed again by the viewer, thus perpetuating the cycle of creation and destruction.
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Party Animals
oil on canvas, 36x48
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Androids in Eden
oil, metallic leaf, textured spray paint, on canvas, 36x48
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Bride
oil, metallic leaf, on canvas, 16x20
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Scribe
oil on canvas, 18 X 24
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Peacock
oil on canvas, 24x36
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Eve
oil on canvas, 24x30
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Aborigine
oil on canvas, 16 X 20
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Broadway
oil on canvas, 18 X 24
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Cat Woman
oil, metallic leaf, on canvas, 32x40
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Elephant in the Room
oil on canvas, 32x40