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Arielle Cienaga, born in Toronto in 1965, came to art from a professional background in graphic design and music. By the time she completed her BFA (Hons) with a minor in Art History, she says she was well on the way to a highly conscious – mindful – philosophy of art rooted in modernism, abstract expressionism, and minimalism. She wants her lyrical and abstract paintings to reveal the all-important creative process – in part because the process itself is therapeutic.

In the context of the physical space within a gallery, Arielle says she hopes to draw the viewer in closer to the work of art, to invite analysis, whereupon a different, and deeper, level of the artistic process can be perceived. For example, she uses repetitive patterns in graphic marks or images to complement and reinforce meaning. She also experiments with colour as a soothing, sensual break; she describes her sculptures as an extension of her paintings into three dimensions.

Says Arielle, “I value randomness and the accidental in art, but because I’m trying to reduce the work to essentials, I’m conscious of when it’s done…. Through looking at art, I’ve learned about life. I’m privileged to have come into the community of artists.”