Birdie IV, altered commercial figurine, sculpted stoneware head and bird, glaze

Cynthia Consentino is a ceramic artist and sculptor currently based in Bucklan, Massachusetts. In her practice, Cynthia uses the sculptural medium to explore and break down expectations and dichotomies related to gender and reality. 

Wolf Madonna, porcelain, glaze

Much of Cynthia’s work is also inspired by fairy tales -- works in which human figures are combined with those of animals have a very mythological sense about them, and remind me of works by Clementine de Chabaneix, or Leanne Schnepp. There’s an unavoidable undertone of childlike discovery and storytelling in Cynthia’s portfolio, with figures in recent works taking on distorted, dreamlike forms untethered to the “rules” of anatomy or realism. 

It’s interesting to see how Cynthia combines realistic detail with surreal forms and compositions. In both three and two dimensional works, the faces of human figures are treated delicately, with the artist depicting fine lines, individual hairs and eyelashes in just sharp enough relief to create a kind of uncanny valley.

Over Here, gouache