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Artist Statement
My paintings explore connections. Connections to nature, to others, to time as well as disruption in connection especially caused by technology. When I moved back to Maryland after living in Florida and California for over ten years, I experienced a resonance of time and memory by returning to a familiar but changed location. This process of re-connecting myself to the places and people re-draws pathways in my experience. A palimpsest is a manuscript that has later writing on top of prior writing, traces of which are still visible. The resonance of place and moments in time have a similar layering to them.
My work also explores connections to objects. When I first purchase an item, I may admire it for its aesthetic value, but as it moves around the house or gets used, and incorporates itself into our everyday lives and memories, it develops a quality or increased value as it connects to our particular lived experience with that object.
Gesture and movement are important in my paintings to show how nature and human movement align. For example, mangroves may be represented with a pink palette to connect to internal human circulatory or digestive systems. The movement of tree branches may invoke joy, love, or modesty through anthropomorphic gesture or analogy. So much of human experience and understanding ties back to our experience with nature.
In my work, I draw from the environment that I have experienced, including the mangroves and banyans of Florida and the woods of Maryland. Often ancient spiritual symbols or anthropomorphic moments emerge tying back to ancestral spirituality.
My approach to painting derives from the tradition of Cezanne, with planes of color, like that of Fairfield Porter. However, I layer in linear work that emphasizes gesture as well as the auric glow around objects to enhance their power, as well as to balance color and weight in the composition. I also work with the organic materials of oil paint and a walnut oil-based medium. These materials have a connection to nature, and a long history of use by humans. Oil paintings breathe and have a glowing life to me, unlike acrylic or plastic materials.
BIO
Cindy Rivarde's work focuses on connections and resonance in response to a sense of place and time. She was born in Toledo, Ohio and lives in Columbia, Maryland. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received a B.A. in art and dramatic art in 1988 and received the Paul and Elizabeth Green Award for women in theater. She also received her M.F.A. in painting from Towson University in 2004. In her early career, she was a scenic artist at Hartford Stage, PlayMakers Theatre, Long Wharf Theater, and Baltimore Center Stage. She has exhibited across the country and is in numerous private collections. Ms. Rivarde is also an economic development professional who builds communities with a strong talent for placemaking and engagement. She has overseen numerous cultural programming for cities including public art programs, cultural grants programs, musical series, film location services, and operation of cultural assets. She guest lectures on the economic impact of the arts at Georgetown.
My paintings explore connections. Connections to nature, to others, to time as well as disruption in connection especially caused by technology. When I moved back to Maryland after living in Florida and California for over ten years, I experienced a resonance of time and memory by returning to a familiar but changed location. This process of re-connecting myself to the places and people re-draws pathways in my experience. A palimpsest is a manuscript that has later writing on top of prior writing, traces of which are still visible. The resonance of place and moments in time have a similar layering to them.
My work also explores connections to objects. When I first purchase an item, I may admire it for its aesthetic value, but as it moves around the house or gets used, and incorporates itself into our everyday lives and memories, it develops a quality or increased value as it connects to our particular lived experience with that object.
Gesture and movement are important in my paintings to show how nature and human movement align. For example, mangroves may be represented with a pink palette to connect to internal human circulatory or digestive systems. The movement of tree branches may invoke joy, love, or modesty through anthropomorphic gesture or analogy. So much of human experience and understanding ties back to our experience with nature.
In my work, I draw from the environment that I have experienced, including the mangroves and banyans of Florida and the woods of Maryland. Often ancient spiritual symbols or anthropomorphic moments emerge tying back to ancestral spirituality.
My approach to painting derives from the tradition of Cezanne, with planes of color, like that of Fairfield Porter. However, I layer in linear work that emphasizes gesture as well as the auric glow around objects to enhance their power, as well as to balance color and weight in the composition. I also work with the organic materials of oil paint and a walnut oil-based medium. These materials have a connection to nature, and a long history of use by humans. Oil paintings breathe and have a glowing life to me, unlike acrylic or plastic materials.
BIO
Cindy Rivarde's work focuses on connections and resonance in response to a sense of place and time. She was born in Toledo, Ohio and lives in Columbia, Maryland. She attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she received a B.A. in art and dramatic art in 1988 and received the Paul and Elizabeth Green Award for women in theater. She also received her M.F.A. in painting from Towson University in 2004. In her early career, she was a scenic artist at Hartford Stage, PlayMakers Theatre, Long Wharf Theater, and Baltimore Center Stage. She has exhibited across the country and is in numerous private collections. Ms. Rivarde is also an economic development professional who builds communities with a strong talent for placemaking and engagement. She has overseen numerous cultural programming for cities including public art programs, cultural grants programs, musical series, film location services, and operation of cultural assets. She guest lectures on the economic impact of the arts at Georgetown.
