Art works by Cynthia Wild
cynthia@cynthiawild.co.uk
ABOUT THE WORK
Underpinning all the work is a love of geology and antiquity and consequently, histories. My interest is not in the huge movements of tectonic plates and monumental events nor in the great generalisations of the historical past – it is in the stories of individuals – fossils and people – and in lives imagined and recorded in poetry. All of these “stories” are contextualised in the environments in which they “happened” and in a physical attachment to the earth itself.
The artworks naturally separate into three distinct “narratives”
Fossils and Forces
– Mwnt, Blue Mountains, Steep Down, Rock where a range of materials are used to trace the weather and earth forces historically in the making of each work.
Fertile Eye and Fossiling
– imagined “fossils” are caught in a stage somewhere between being alive and atrophying into fossils and the possibility of their reawakening still exists, reflecting on the abyss between the end of life and death itself. The images are of fish, themselves symbolic of life and fertility, whilst also being eye–shaped and thus reflexive with the visual act of image–making. The ancient Roman technique of encaustic (hot wax) painting is used, not simply for its aesthetic qualities, but also because of its historical connection to antiquity.
Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute
– Collages are made in response to the thirteenth century poems of Liu Shang about an aristocratic young Han–Chinese woman (Wen Chi) in the third century. The narrative traces her abduction by nomads, her “marriage” and children and finally, her decision to return to China leaving behind forever the twelve years of her life as a nomad. From the collages acrylic paintings are made on canvas whilst from the collage elements, an archive of “images” inform further works on paper – Derivations, all made in multiples of 18 – thus connecting these works to the 18 original poems.
Miscellaneous
– a collection of other works made in response to other poems and events completes the collection of current works.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Cynthia Wild attended the London colleges (now all part of the London University of the Arts) Central School of Art and Design, Wimbledon School of Art and left Chelsea College of Art with an MA in 1999.
Exhibitions
Open competitions Mall Galleries |
Curated group exhibitions Chelsea College of Art |
Solo and two person exhibitions Battersea Arts Centre |
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Commissions, Private Collections, Publications, Teaching and Presentations
Balham Park Surgery Liaison Group for the waiting room in new building
Works are held in private collections in UK, Australia, Germany, USA, and Sweden.
Interviewed Sally Smart, artist, published in Meanjin literary magazine. (Melbourne Australia)
Presentation for Photofusion (London) on Photography and the Sublime
Lectures part–time at South Thames College (London)
Dimensions of art works
(Prices range from £120 to £2,500)
| Fossils and Forces | Fertile eye and fossiling | 18 Songs of a Nomad Flute | |
| A | 228.5x76cm; 90x30ins | Encaustic and mixed media on paper A 41x28cm; 16x11ins |
Collages A 21.5x29cm; 8.5 x11ins B 18x23cm; 7x9ins |
| B | 122x91cm; 48x36ins | ||
| C | 76x91cm; 30x36ins | Smallest canvases B 19x14cm; 7.5x5.5ins; 25x20cm; 10x8ins |
Small canvases C 45.5cm square; 18ins square Diptychs etc are multiples of the same dimensions |
| D | 23x11.5–46x28cm; 9x4.5–18x11ins | ||
| E | 46x51cm; 18x19ins | Small canvases C 41x20cm; 16x8ins – 30x25cm; 12x10 ins – 30x20cm; 12x8ins |
Large canvases D 127x76cm; 50x30 ins E 127x 108cm; 42.5ins Diptychs etc are multiples of the same dimensions |
| F | 157x 106cm; 62x42ins | ||
| G | 53x41cm; 21x16ins | Larger canvases D 51x41cm; 20x16ins |
Derivations (watercolour and/or ink on paper) individual modular “strips” F 14x84cm; .2x33ins Larger single works G 76x109cm; 30x43ins |
| H | 157x170cm; 62x67ins | ||
| J | 38x51cm; 15x20ins | ||