ARTIST STATEMENT
Fig and Kip were my mother’s friends. Closely bonded, they grew up in rural Massachusetts, an area of farms and tree growers. They had their horses and rode together often.
These were the ways women learned to support each other, and those friendships lasted a lifetime.
When girls form relationships that sustain their ideas and goals, they mature into strong women. Women need each other and this bonding begins when we are young.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Escaped New Jersey and went to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. Left Pratt and hitchhiked to Chicago. Spent some time taking classes at AIC. Wandered around. Worked on painting while holding down odd jobs – short order cook, house painter, etc. Got job at WMAQ as graphic artist and worked there for some years while doing my own work, and being mentored by my art director, Jack Hakman, who became a lifelong friend and mentored me to the end of his life.
© Cynthia Staples