About

Stacey Cushner is drawer and painter who studied Fine Arts at Brandeis University and received her MFA in Visual Art at Lesley University's College of Art and Design.  She has shown her work in SCOPE Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland, Art Southampton, Southampton, NY, Art Silicon Valley, San Francisco, California, the Boston International Fine Art Show, Baozhen Gallery, Beijing, China and with Gallery Begin in Kyoto, Japan (and other places, check out the CV page). Her work is included in private collections around the world.  She has exhibited her work in solo, two-person, and in group shows at colleges, universities, and in galleries and has received prizes for her work, including an honorable mention with the New York City gallery of Hollis Taggert and from the Blanche Ames National Exhibition in Massachusetts.  She was an artist in residence at the Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, China, at the WYE in Berlin, Germany and with the OBRAS Foundation in Holland. She has lectured about her work at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and has taught there and at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vermont.  She is currently a member of Pleiades Gallery, Chelsea, New York City and Kingston Gallery, Boston Massachusetts. When not drawing or painting, she enjoys exploring the natural world with her family and dogs.

Artist Statement

Trees, forests and flowers are iconic and an endless source of inspiration.  In drawing these, I locate different textures and emphasize the shapes of trees and differing values in graphite or blue color pencil to speak to their sturdiness and the capacity to withstand these times. They’re a metaphor for life. We have a constant relationship with them. As Sara Maitland, author of From The Forest, describes, “[r]ight from the beginning, the relationship between people and forest [and flora] was not primarily antagonistic and competitive, but symbiotic.”

And from the slow process of creating drawings, floral paintings and animal portraits found in these gardens, forests and in unexpected places, a meditative presence occurs.  There is a grandeur in nature and a spirit.  Creating scenic worlds, even in still life paintings, segue into wonder, daydreaming, and contemplation.  A child-like feeling occurs when anything seems possible: infinite immensity and infinite possibilities.