About Cynthia Brody

NOW IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

Cynthia Brody has been an exhibiting artist for over 40 years. She studied painting at Parsons School of Design and The New School in New York. Ms. Brody developed a self-taught style of mixed media painting that she has expanded upon throughout the years. The bulk of her work incorporates the combination of photo images with acrylic paints and found materials to create a surreal impression. The photos are often used out of context for their visual texture, and it is only upon closer inspection that the viewer begins to discover that what appears to be recognizable is actually something else entirely. Her works incorporate elements of beauty, such as metallic paints and gold leaf, which parallel the adornment of the subjects in some of the cross-cultural pieces. This is contrasted with the strong statements and pensive attitudes of the women depicted. Several of the pieces resemble icons honoring the complexity, angst and beauty of the female experience.

Ms. Brody is also a psychotherapist now living in Asheville, North Carolina Her interest in the psyche is reflected in her artwork. She is the contributing editor of Bittersweet Legacy – Creative Responses to the Holocaust, a collection of art and poetry published by University Press of America. In her work as artist, editor and therapist, Ms Brody strives to raise the awareness and sensitivity of others regarding the human experience and the struggles and beauty, which are an integral part of life.. Her work will be exhibited regularly at Trackside Gallery in the River Arts District of Asheville and starting in November 2024 at Asheville Gallery of Art downtown.

These videos were taken at exhibits derived from the anthology
Bittersweet Legacy – Creative Responses to the Holocaust edited by Cynthia Brody.

Exhibits

Earlier Exclusive Exhibits

Earlier Group Exhibits

Bittersweet Legacy

2022

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

Earlier Exclusive Exhibits

Earlier Group Exhibits

Bittersweet Legacy

My Process

People often inquire about the process of combining photo collage and paint. My art has focused on the experience of being a woman, and I most often begin by seeking out a subject. I’ve always found women of the Victorian era or thereabouts to be appealing subjects. Most of the women in my pieces are no longer living, but I enjoy the notion of giving them another life.

Here are some examples of the collage stage of several pieces before transforming them in the painting process. The selecting and moving around of various pieces of photo change the story over and over again and is often the most time consuming part of the project.

I enjoy using photos for their visual texture. I often look at things with the thought in mind, “What else could this look like?” A cactus could make a nice full skirt if turned upside down. Cathedral windows make for interesting sleeves. In more recent pieces I have photographed specifically for a piece and sometimes utilize digital software to alter the photos. They may then be printed and, as with found imagery, glued to canvas. Then the fun and challenge of connecting them with paint and creating a larger whole that works aesthetically begins.