ARTIST STATEMENT
As a painter and printmaker, I find inspiration in fragments of nature held close for reflection. I employ a personal vocabulary of fluid marks and organic imagery to express the sensual pleasure and ephemeral quality of the natural world. Within this realm, my work varies from representational to abstract, and I am continuously moving along the continuum between the two. I tend to work in series, either in regard to the materials used in creating my collagraph plates and prints, or in the exploration of a particular image.
Recently I have reconnected to my love of painting and have been exploring ways to connect painting and printing processes. Moving from stencils of plants, to actual plants used as stencils, I am exploring the dialogue between Photography and Painting, despite the fact that I am not using a camera. There is also a seasonal aspect to this process; I am using found plant material, and the availability changes with the seasons. The temporal quality of the material, alluding to the passage of time, and the ephemeral nature of the material itself, all speaks to a place in me that craves more connection to the natural world.
BIO
Cynthia MacCollum is a painter, printmaker, designer and mother of two who lives and works in New Canaan, CT. Her work has been shown at venues including The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT; The Avenue Gallery in Norwalk, CT; First Street Gallery in New York City, and online at The Road Gallery. In April 2013 two of her prints were awarded first prize in Works on Paper in the Spectrum show, the New Canaan Society for the Arts Annual Juried Exhibit. In June, 2013, Cynthia’s work was selected by curator Donald Kuspit, one of 32 pieces out of thousands of submissions, to be part of the First Street Gallery National Juried Exhibit in New York City. Cynthia’s solo exhibit, “Continuum”, will open in August 2014 at the H. Pelham Curtis Gallery in New Canaan.
In April 2013, Cynthia became a member of New Canaan’s Silvermine Guild. The artist is also a member of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT; The New Canaan Society for the Arts in New Canaan, CT; and the Fairfield Artists Association, in Fairfield, CT. She graduated from Washington University in St Louis with a major in Art History and a minor in Fine Art. She has continued her studies at The Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT; and at The Santa Reparata International School of Art, a three-week intensive printmaking program in Florence, Italy.
She has always been an artist, but early in her career, MacCollum spent five years in the Macy’s training program pursuing retail management, and later embarked on a backpacking trip around the world. These experiences primed her to start her own business designing scarfs in 1993. Her first customer was Henri Bendel in New York, NY. The business grew quickly, and her scarves were sold at boutiques and department stores across the country, including Nordstroms and Bloomingdales. She created 100 unique scarf motifs annually. This business grew to encompass designing scarves for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; umbrellas for Totes; rugs for Homefires; and dishes and giftware for Sylvestri in conjunction with the Asia Society in New York, NY.
Cynthia MacCollum brings her design experience and raw creative talent to her work. Inspired by a self-imposed practice of creating one small painting a day, MacCollum has expanded upon the themes and ideas generated therein to build several new series of paintings and prints. Her most recent series, Continuum, examines the history of life on earth within a geologic time frame. The beauty of the forms that organic life has taken on earth is examined on a micro level in contrast to the macro scale of time. Incapsulated into the work is the idea of man as a part of nature, that we are nature, another part of the continuum of life on earth.
Cynthia MacCollum
Solo and Group Exhibits
2019 Shades of Blue, Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA
2019 Affordable Art Fair, Elisa Contemporary Art, NY, NY
2019 Spring Prologue, 2 Person exhibit, ArtWORKS Gallery, Norwalk, CT
2018 Live Auction, Monothon, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
2017 Artists Showcase, Group Show, Avenue Gallery, Norwalk, CT; Invitational
2016 Flora & Fauna, Nest Arts Factory, Bridgeport, CT; Invitational
2016 Spring Fling, Group Show, Avenue Gallery, Norwalk, CT; Invitational
2015 ART On The Line, Invitational International Art Show and Exhibit, The Space, Hong Kong
2015 ART SHOW: BEDFORD, Benefit, Bedford, NY; Invitational
2015 Full Bloom: The Artist’s View of Gilded Age Botanicals; Lockwood Matthews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, CT
2014 New Members Exhibition, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2014 Continuum, Solo Show, H. Pelham Curtis Gallery, New Canaan, CT
2014 On and Off the Wall, First Street Gallery, New York, NY; Invitational
2014 Spring Fling, Group Show, The Avenue Gallery, Norwalk, CT; Invitational
2014 Works on Paper, The Road Gallery, New York, NY; Invitational
2012 Panorama, Members Show, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
2010 Members Show, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
Juried Exhibitions
2019 The Edge Effect, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
2019 Site: Brooklyn, Works on Paper, Brooklyn, NY
2019 Spectrum, Works on Paper, New Canaan, CT
2018 Silvermine Guild Juried Member Exhibit, Susan Ely, Juror
2018 Spectrum, Carraige Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2016 New Work/New Directions, Juried Members Exhibit, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT
2015 Annual Mini Print International, Cadaques, Spain and Bages, France
2015 Spectrum, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2014 International Biennial Footprint Exhibit, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
2013 In the Layers, Juried Members Exhibit, Silvermine Guild Galleries, New Canaan, CT
2013 Ink and Clay 39, Kellogg Gallery, California Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA; juried show
2013 National Juried Exhibition, First Street Gallery, New York, NY, Donald Kuspit, Juror
2013 Spectrum, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT.
*Awarded First Prize for Works on Paper
2013 Sea and Sky, Liz Afif Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2012 Spectrum, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2012 American Pastoral, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
2010 Members Show, Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
Residencies
2017 and 2016 Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Skopelos, Greece
Affiliations
Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT
Elisa Contemporary Art, Riverdale, NY
Blue Print Gallery, Dallas, TX
Lionheart Gallery, Bedford, NY
Related Experience
2000-2006 Homefires Rugs, Atlanta, GA, Licensed and Proprietary Rug Design
2000-2001 Sylvestri, Boston, MA and Asia Society of New York, NY, Licensed Designs
1995-1999 Totes Umbrellas, Cincinnati, OH, Licensed Designs
1994-2002 Hang the Moon Art by Cynthia MacCollum, Head Designer and CEO, Norwalk, CT
Proprietary Business of Silk Scarves designed by Cynthia and hand painted in China;
Sold in boutiques and major department stores nationally
1987-1991 Macy’s Executive Training Program, Atlanta, GA
Sales Manager, Assistant Buyer, Assistant Store Manager
Education
2005-2013 Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT
2010 Santa Reparata International School of Art, Intensive Printmaking Workshop,
Florence, Italy
1993 Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
1987 Washington University in St Louis, BA, History of Art, St. Louis, MO