Cindy Betzer Pharis
Cindy’s work is
about connections that human beings make or don’t make through language, a
gesture, a look, an expression, physical placement, cultural values, standards,
emotions, and desires. Exploring how we communicate, accept, constrain, or
reject these connections to form relationships is an evident theme throughout
her work. Her art centers around the human figure, as it is often the vehicle
which relays the connection. Portraits are a predominant part of her work as she
is fascinated and challenged by the changes age, experience, the environment,
lighting, background, and just a slight muscle movement can make. Her bodies of
work are categorized similarly to how the artist lives her life: processes,
portraits, and conceptual pieces, or experiences, relationships and connections
to others, and her inner, more consuming ideas and reflections on how moral and
spiritual gauges are created within social, historical, and instinctual
contexts.
During her exploration of watercolor resists, Cindy discovered oil pastel. She
began exploring different temperatures, dyes, paint, and oil pastel. Discovering
it’s versatility, Cindy began working in oil pastel, completing a four by
six-feet oil pastel painting, plein air paintings on or near her family’s ranch
in northern Arizona, portraits from life, still life, and figure studies. Most
recently, she has had three oil pastels in nationally juried shows, and one of
her student’s oil pastels hung in the White House for 2006.
Cindy continues to work in her studio in the Angeles Crest Forest, and shares
her love of art with her students in weekly workshops and with her husband,
photographer, Chuck Pharis. She has won many awards in art, most notably being
honored before the California state legislature for her leadership in the arts.
She is in many collections, including the Outdoor Channel, Phoenix College, and
Antelope Valley College, and is represented by the Art Loft Gallery, the VIVA
Gallery, and several online galleries.
EDUCATION:
MFA graduate studies, Vermont College, Montpelier, Vermont
Figure Sculpture studies, UCLA
M.A., California State University, Northridge, 1991
B.A., Arizona State University, 1981
NBCT-Art
RECENT EXHIBITION PARTICIPATION:
"Access: A Feminist's Perspective," national juried exhibit, the Feminist
Art Project, Rhonda Schaller Studio, Chelsea NY, 2007
VIVA Gallery Salon, southern California juried membership, 2007
"Frost on the Tracks," national juried exhibit, Monck's Corner Visual Art and
Cultural Center, Charleston SC, 2006, first place award, Drawing
The Oil Pastel Society Annual Exhibit: Versatility, 2006
"Heroines: Remarkable and Inspiring Women," national juried exhibition, Art
Harvest, Sacramento, CA, 2005-2006
"Terminating Rape: The White Ribbon Exhibit," national juried exhibition, the
University of Pennsylvania, Cheyney, PA, 2005
The Pen & Brush Gallery, national juried exhibition, Manhattan, NY, 2005,
recipient of the Zelda and Harry Rappe Memorial Award
"Disclosing October," national juried exhibition, the Exit Gallery, Montana
State University, Bozeman, MT, 2005
"Face Value," national exhibit juried by Marc Pachter, National Portrait Gallery
Director, Winston-Salem, NC, 2005
The Period Gallery, Online Color III International Art Exhibit, 2005
"Connections," Faculty Art Exhibition, Valencia, CA, 2006
Kagel Canyon Art Exhibit, Kagel Canyon, CA, 2006
The Art Loft, San Marcos, CA, 2005-2007
Sacramento 2nd Saturday Art Walk, 2005, 2006
CURRENT PROFESSIONAL ART TEACHING:
1999-current Department Chair, Advanced Placement Studio Art Drawing, 2D Design,
and 3D Design instructor, Wm. S. Hart Union High School District
1991-current Painting and Drawing Instructor, Antelope Valley Community College
2006-current Advanced Placement Studio Art Reader
2007 Advanced Placement Studio Art Course Evaluator
|
|
|
|
That Female Energy!
16x20 - Canvas |
|
|
|
Carol
16x20 - Inked Canvas |
|
|
|
Redefining Beauty: Savanna, A Mathematical Teen
18x22 - Paper |
|
|
|
Audra Contemplating
23x17 - Black Drawing Paper |
|
|
|
Letting Go
16x22 - Black Drawing Paper |
|
|
Artist Website
Contact the Artist
|
