Andrea Cybyk’s abstract acrylic paintings are all about vibrant color and intricate layers.
Repeating Shapes & Marks
I tend to set some working parameters, restricting myself to certain colors, shapes, or repeating marks to create a series of related pieces.
The long, exacting diagonals of juicy pigment in my Color Strand paintings echo the hectic pace of our busy lives. Lush and intoxicating, each translucent strand must dry independently before another can cross. They create unexpectedly rich moments where they intersect, building mysterious colors, anticipated, but not mixed on my palette. These are the sweet spots in life. Crisp, deliberate white space serves both as a pathway through the painting and as a resting place from potential overload. It’s a very precise chaos.
The organic contours of my Floating Form paintings were inspired by the recurring abundance of olives, lentils, grapes, wine bottles & barrels so prevalent on a cooking holiday in Italy. I created large hand-cut templates as a way of repeating these forms and patterns, rolling on fluid acrylic paint with rubber brayers rather than paintbrushes. The brayers lend a faceted, jewel-like quality to the pigment, backlit by the white of the paper. I work in both positive shapes and negative space (the space between shapes) delighting in the complex colors created where layers overlap. The paper is usually mounted on cradled wood panels, sealed & varnished, allowing the forms to float almost beyond the edge, unconfined by conventional mat & frame. A few pieces are matted & framed instead.
Openings is a series of small works on paper with a grid reminiscent of old windows and ancient buildings. I’m using a gelatin plate, brayers, and a template rescued from the recycle bin. Each piece acquires a delicate, time-worn patina composed of dozens of layers of acrylic paint.
Loose Abstract Paintings
Complexity and texture are built using graphite, collage, transparent washes and juicy veils of color, backlit by the pure, white light of paper or canvas. The resulting images show the construction process of the painting itself by concealing and revealing the elements within.
BIO
A native of Northern Virginia with an engineering background, Andrea Cybyk worked in the software industry for 15 years, studied painting and printmaking along the way, and finally abandoned the techie world to paint full-time. Raised in the contemporary home that her parents designed and built themselves, she comes from a family of technical creatives and fiercely stubborn DIYers.