Cynthia Ona Innis
Encyclopedia
Cynthia Ona Innis and raised in San Diego, California
is an American
painter
, sculptor and visual artist based out of Oakland, California
. Her work has been called, "sensual," "organic" and "science fiction-y" where, "a futuristic heaven-meets-hell." Innis graduated with a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and earned her post-graduate M.F.A.
from Rutgers University
in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has received the San Francisco Arts Commission Honorarium, the James D. Phelan
Award in printmaking, a MacDowell Colony
Fellowship and Residency award, and the James D. Phelan
Award in painting, among other awards and recognition.
The Los Angeles Times' Holly Myers describes Innis' work: "Mesh pods hover languidly, swaying in currents of blue, lavender and pink, or else shoot across the canvas with predatory propulsion, trailing clouds of black, rust red or brown, while lozenge-shaped fragments of cut fabric (largely satin and fake fur) gather in loose clouds. The pigment is thin and watery in some places, saturating the ground (whether canvas or stretched satin) and blurring sensually into other shades."
Innis has been a visiting art professor and/or faculty member at several prominent universities and arts institutes. Among the institutions where Innis has taught, are the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Art Institute
and Boise State University
in Boise, Idaho.
Cynthia Ona Innis' work is represented by the Walter Maciel Gallery
in Los Angeles. Her works are in the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
, CA, San Jose Museum of Art
, San Jose, CA, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, the Imagery Estate Winery Artists Collection, Glen Ellen, CA and the Microsoft
Art Collection, Redmond, WA.
and his wife, teacher and well-known floral designer, Virginia. Cynthia Ona Innis is married to Executive Chef
Sascha Weiss (The Plant Cafe Organic, San Francisco
). Weiss has worked as Executive Pastry Chef at the famous Millennium restaurant in San Francisco and co-wrote the restaurant’s first cookbook. Weiss has also been a private Chef for filmmaker George Lucas
. Innis recently gave birth to her first daughter Ona and resides in the Bay Area. Cynthia Ona Innis' sister is film editor, Chris Innis
.
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, sculptor and visual artist based out of Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Her work has been called, "sensual," "organic" and "science fiction-y" where, "a futuristic heaven-meets-hell." Innis graduated with a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley and earned her post-graduate M.F.A.
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has received the San Francisco Arts Commission Honorarium, the James D. Phelan
James D. Phelan
James Duval Phelan was an American politician, civic leader and banker.-Early years:Phelan was born in San Francisco, the son of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy during the California Gold Rush as a trader, merchant and banker. He graduated from St...
Award in printmaking, a MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
Fellowship and Residency award, and the James D. Phelan
James D. Phelan
James Duval Phelan was an American politician, civic leader and banker.-Early years:Phelan was born in San Francisco, the son of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy during the California Gold Rush as a trader, merchant and banker. He graduated from St...
Award in painting, among other awards and recognition.
The Los Angeles Times' Holly Myers describes Innis' work: "Mesh pods hover languidly, swaying in currents of blue, lavender and pink, or else shoot across the canvas with predatory propulsion, trailing clouds of black, rust red or brown, while lozenge-shaped fragments of cut fabric (largely satin and fake fur) gather in loose clouds. The pigment is thin and watery in some places, saturating the ground (whether canvas or stretched satin) and blurring sensually into other shades."
Innis has been a visiting art professor and/or faculty member at several prominent universities and arts institutes. Among the institutions where Innis has taught, are the University of California at Berkeley, the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
and Boise State University
Boise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
in Boise, Idaho.
Cynthia Ona Innis' work is represented by the Walter Maciel Gallery
Walter Maciel Gallery
Walter Maciel Gallery is an art gallery founded in 2005, located at 2642 S. La Cienega Boulevard, in the Culver City Art District in Los Angeles, California, United States. Walter Maciel worked as a gallery director in San Francisco for more than thirteen years before he moved to Southern...
in Los Angeles. Her works are in the collections of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, comprising the M. H. de Young Memorial Museum in Golden Gate Park and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco and one of the largest art museums in California.-External...
, CA, San Jose Museum of Art
San Jose Museum of Art
The San Jose Museum of Art is an art museum in Downtown San Jose, California, USA. Founded in 1969, the museum hosts a large permanent collection emphasizing West Coast artists of the 20th- and 21st-century. It is located next to the Circle of Palms Plaza and Plaza de César Chávez...
, San Jose, CA, Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA, the Imagery Estate Winery Artists Collection, Glen Ellen, CA and the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Art Collection, Redmond, WA.
Personal life
Innis is the daughter of architect Donald InnisDonald Innis
Donald Alywn Innis, , is an American architect based in San Diego, California. Innis is also an inventor and engineer and has pioneered the idea of floating real estate, specifically the notion of a floating airport using pneumatic stabilized platform technology which he has developed and patented...
and his wife, teacher and well-known floral designer, Virginia. Cynthia Ona Innis is married to Executive Chef
Chef
A chef is a person who cooks professionally for other people. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who cooks for a living, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation.-Etymology:The word "chef" is borrowed ...
Sascha Weiss (The Plant Cafe Organic, San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
). Weiss has worked as Executive Pastry Chef at the famous Millennium restaurant in San Francisco and co-wrote the restaurant’s first cookbook. Weiss has also been a private Chef for filmmaker George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
. Innis recently gave birth to her first daughter Ona and resides in the Bay Area. Cynthia Ona Innis' sister is film editor, Chris Innis
Chris Innis
Christina Jean "Chris" Innis is an American film editor and filmmaker. She was awarded the 2010 Academy Award, BAFTA, and A.C.E awards for "Best Film Editing" on the feature film, The Hurt Locker, shared with co-editor, Bob Murawski...
.
- Myers, Holly,"Immersed in an Artists Vision: Cynthia Ona Innis at Walter Maciel Gallery" Los Angeles Times, Friday, March 28, 2008.
- Gray, Emma, "Emma Gray's Top LA Ten Picks" Saatchi's Daily Magazine, April 2008.
- Kavass, Veronica. "Conversations 3, Amy Globus and Cynthia Ona Innis," Stretcher.org, May 2006.
- Myers, Holly. "They're Subtle Yet Absorbing: Cynthia Ona Innis at Walter Maciel Gallery," Los Angeles Times, June 23, 2006.
- New American Paintings, Number 37, Open Studios Press.
- New Jersey Arts Annual: Fine Arts 1994, Exhibition Catalog, New Jersey State MuseumNew Jersey State MuseumThe New Jersey State Museum is located at 205 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey, United States, overlooking the Delaware River. The Museum is operated as part of the New Jersey Department of State. General admission is free....
. - Rodriguez, Juan, “Cynthia Innis at the Braunstein/Quay Gallery,” Artweek, Vol. 33, Issue 1, February 2002.
- Rubin, Sylvia.“Big Easy,” San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine, Cover and pages 1, 14-18, February 27, 2005.
- Shnoor, Chris, “Satin Underground: Boise Exposed in Pink,” Boise Weekly, Vol. 11, June 2003.
- Taft, Catherine. "Cynthia Ona Innis at the Walter Maciel Gallery." ArtReview, August 2006.
- Tapley, Brendan. "Open Studio-Painter Cynthia Ona Innis," Artweek, Vol. 34, No. 1, Summer 2005.
- Van Proyen, Mark. "'Close Calls: 2006' at Headlands Center for the Arts," Artweek, Vol. 37, Issue 3, April 2006.