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Cynthia Sparrenberger is an American mixed media artist working within formats that range from artist books, to film, to works on paper. Applying humor as both a conceptual and material tactic, her subject matter deals with the illusory, the psychological, the transitory, and the transcendent.
Sparrenberger's many influences range from the tragic comedic films of Charlie Chaplin to the likes of Philip Guston, Joyce Pensato, and Jean Dubuffet. Her childlike images, executed with collage, acrylic paints, oil stick, and graphite convey complex intellectual assertions through simple, ironic, and heartfelt imagery. Whether depicting a rough and ready rocket-ship, a kabuki theater shadow mask, or a menagerie of other quirky characters invented through an intuitive use of mixed media, the darkest of subject matter are conveyed through her raw, tactile surfaces.
Specific to these envisioned dystopian worlds lie satirical social statements surrounding the broad-ranging vulnerabilities of the human condition with all of its imperfections, alienations, and existential angst.