Artist Bio

Cindy Mehr, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has earned a Master of Arts degree from Millersville University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has exhibited her work in Spain, France, Japan, and Morocco, and won jurors’ awards and residencies throughout the country. In addition to teaching art and giving numerous art talks, she has taught Spanish, French, and English literature. Her diverse international and academic experience forms an integral part of her work. She currently works out of her studios in Bel Air, Maryland and Les Aires, France.

Artist Statement

Throughout the years I have been influenced by three main branches of thought: existential philosophy, Jungian psychology, and Dadaism. One or all of these ideas have worked themselves into my paintings consciously or subconsciously.  Existentialism manifests itself in the interplay of festive colors against the backdrop of black voids.  Jung’s idea of archaic fragments quite literally appears in my work as scraps of things  that represent the collective unconscious. Dadaism, especially the works of Marcel Duchamp, has inspired me with its tongue-in-cheek titles and visual humor. Paradox, juxtaposition, antithesis—basically the contrast of elements such as feminine/masculine  or organic/ geometric—all abound.  I like how if one presents two diametrically opposed ideas, one is also suggesting the territory that lies in between.  It’s a way of presenting the totality by only showing a fragment, a piece of information that connects with other pieces of information to form a panoply of visual stimuli.