Guest Artist: Cecilia Aquino

Cecilia Aquino pursued her B.A. in Studio Art and B.S. in Business Administration-concentration in Marketing at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Before graduation, she took internships in the field at the Greater Reston Arts Center in Reston, VA and studied "Orvieto and the Art History of Central Italy" in Orvieto, Italy. Cecilia works in mediums of painting, drawing and mixed media and has done commissions around the East Coast. Recently she began using iPhone cases as a canvas for her art and has been participating in painting demonstrations, and teaching cork and canvas classes. Most recent exhibitions have been at The NightGallery inLeesburg, Torpedo Factory's Target Gallery, Art Jamz, Mayflowers, Greater Reston Arts Center, and the Ronald Reagan Building.  
"Portrays portraiture through a visual interchange of abnormality and mixed media throughout" I explore the variety of ways people externalize emotion. These portraits embody the vulnerability and strength that are present in human beings. By capturing the features and then by enhancing and distorting the faces gives the portrait a sense of freedom through interpretation. Both the elements and characters in my work communicate stories that are open to the viewer's imagination. Inspired by the action of taking away the realistic aspect of a self-portrait and focusing on human abnormality, traditions, fashion and culture. Through the organic overlay of sand texture and color I am able to make features stand out at the points of transition where emotion changes.