Coming to Confidence IV

Artistic Chaos Studios

Coming To Confidence Series

Artist Statement:
The beginning of the quarantine found me at the Château d'Orquevaux in France, taking part in a month-long artist residency, creating small studies of nudes forced to fit into a box as we often do in American culture. I have traveled to the UK previously where I showed and lectured about my works dealing with loss of a loved one, called Brushstrokes of Emotion at the Skeletons: Stories and Social Bodies Exhibit, in 2018 (a recording of my talk can be found on my YouTube channel). 

As a homegrown American, not white, not black, I struggle with finding out where I fit in. “Brownish” is the new buzzword I’ve heard. I'm exploring different forms of my own identity through that lens, as well as through my explorations in art. I try to blend the mundane with organic magick. I always hope my work will inject some inspiration and emotion to the viewer. The culture zeitgeist in my work explores modern day themes such as body shaming (as seen in Coming to Confidence, a four-piece series, as well as the Reflected series) and fear of death (as seen in Vida y Muerte, Pins and Needles, Grave Expression, and Recherche).

• Oil on panel
• 16" x 20"
• This work of art is NOT FOR SALE

 
Bio:
Cecelia Ivy is a former Cleveland-based artist, activist, and educator, as well as chronic-illness-warrior and multiracial woman. She was recognized by Château d'Orquevaux and awarded the A-i-R Grant, in addition to an Artist-in-Residency opportunity in Orquevaux, France, in January 2020. Ivy aspires to create a non-profit in the near future that supports living as an artist notwithstanding chronic illness(es), especially women who’ve overcome trauma and other mental health challenges, such as those she has personally faced. She creates bold, high-saturation compositions infused with a passion for figures, urban street art, vanitas, and tattoo culture that reflect different aspects of her multiracial background. Embracing a rich and colorful palette, some of her work intensifies the joy of life, marred by great loss. She has earned her A.A. in Fine Arts, her B.A. in Fine Arts with a Drawing and Painting Concentration, and has most recently completed her master’s degree in Art Education. Painting, sculpture and photography are used to spread progressive ideas and messages of equity through her image making.
 
Solo exhibitions include Into The Void, Negative Space Gallery, Cleveland, OH, 2019, Dark Delights, Faux Pas Gallery, Rochelle, IL, 2018, Recherche’, Octagon Gallery, Westfield, NY 2018, and more.

 Artist website:  http://artisticchaos.weebly.com