Artist Statement Cinnamon Cooney

It is from an a highly emotional and sentimental space that my experience is fostered. I fabricate  from a whimsical inner narrative. As I observe my objective world  I overlay it with a visual subtext of the true meanings of things as I see them. This entertaining inner exposure is what I try to capture in my work. My themes focus on the essential complexion of the living world  rarely acknowledging the industrial dystopian nature of modern living. A persistent tapestry of fanciful elements that implies an undercurrent of hopefulness and optimism. Even when the pools of a darker nature is explored a presence of buoyant quirkiness  remains. The resilience of the natural world, its persistence to survive and overcome is explored. It is through my art that I share my fundamental optimism in the magical nature of living and  divine struggle toward joy.
My art DNA was developed in the cradle of the southwest. It is imbued with vista's and mesa's populated by natures greatest hits. As a child I soaked myself in horse drinking troughs marinating in the influence of an equine world. I spent thousand of miles on Americas most amazing horse trails. Around campfires my ears burned with songs and legends of the west, of native american spirits, and the battle of good and evil that is west. I cut my teeth on artists like Deigo Rivera, Freda Kahlo, R.C. Gorman, Pena, Pablita Concho, Fredrick Remington, and Beatrice Woods. In college I tempered and honed my vision with the influence of the flip side of American history. Attending  Prairie View A&M introduced me to another set of hero's and villains. I committed to preserving an eyes and heart wide open policy. There the histories of slave trade through the great African American poets, writers, and artist mixed with my romanticized view of the world. I was profoundly effect by the artwork of John T. Biggers, Jean-Micheal Basquiat, and Pearl Fryer. This influenced me to examine myself to the deepest level of my own meaning in a world capable of great injustice and beauty. I embraced the need for my own journey as an ordinary hero and purveyor of a beautiful truth. To tell stories that are moving and woven with all of the vigor I can muster. To shine a light into what was and what will be. To value as sacred the world around me and the beings living in its shelter.
I am a painter. My works are acrylic on canvas. I find that painting is a medium that has been thoroughly explored. Therefore I am driven to do my art with both craftsmanship and innovation. I avail myself of wide variety of tools, gels, mediums, and art techniques. I refer to this as my toy box. Sandbox time and embracing space outside of my comfort zone has been directing my paintings. Many of my techniques are experimental. I approach each piece as if it is a game and my tools are toys that I may explore  outside of the shadow of success and failure models. When approached as play what appears to be accidental is in fact an expression of a very intimate experience with my creation. I leave myself open to the possibilities of each creation but yet a participant in every element.  It is my goal to leave the viewer with the experience of having come across a moment of exposed truthful exploration from an internal anecdote.