CYNTHIA SPILLMAN
Cynthia Spillman is an American multidisciplinary artist based in Aptos, California, whose work spans painting, performance, and voice. Her creative path has been shaped by a richly varied background, including decades as a radio DJ—beginning in her formative years in Hawaii, where she also worked as a designer and farmer.
In 1990, her home and studio were destroyed by the Kilauea Volcano, prompting a relocation to San Francisco. There, she began a career in acting and voiceover, eventually returning to the visual arts after moving to Los Angeles.
Though largely self-taught, Spillman was invited to study at the distinguished Santa Monica College of Design, Art and Architecture—a school known for its immersive, interdisciplinary, and experimental approach. There, she honed an intuitive artistic language grounded in color, gesture, and contemplative inquiry into the nature of self. At the core of her work is an unwavering ethos: that directness and sincerity form the foundation of artistic communication.
A fundamental thread is woven through her practice—an instinctive mandate to express truth above all else.
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CYNTHIA SPILLMAN
b. 1959, Manhattan Beach, CA.
Education
2022 Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Master Class Advanced Painting: Making and Dialogue, Aspen, CO.
2001 College of Design, Art and Architecture (DAA), Santa Monica, CA.
2000 UCLA, study in Paul Klee: Psychic Improvisations, Los Angeles, CA.
1998 Santa Monica College / Painting, Photography, Santa Monica CA.
1981 California State University, Chico / American Studies, Religious Studies
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2020 The Self/The Eye, Monterey Museum of Art, Currents Gallery, Monterey, CA.
2024 deeply truly, REALLY, Roll Up Project, Oakland, CA.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 The Minnow Women's Month Group Show, Minnow Arts, Santa Cruz, CA.
2021 Magical Thinking, Ivy League Gallery, Minneapolis, MN.
2021 Zip Us Up, Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI. (collaborative public art project)
2019 No Creative Boundaries, Museum of Encaustic Art, Santa Fe, NM.
2019 Encaustic Art, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards, Santa Cruz CA.
2018 The Whole Ball of Wax, Felix Kulpa Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA.
2018 The Year of the Dog, Sebastopol Center of the Arts, Sebastopol, CA.
2017 Hopeful Darkness, Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY.
2000 Synopsis, Julie Rico Gallery, Venice, CA.
Grants
2022 Develop Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, CA.
2017 Develop Grant, Arts Council Santa Cruz County, CA..
Commissions
2016 Gentes residence fresco, Olive Grove Enfresco, Soquel, CA.
2016 Shepherd-Smith residence, Nandi and Lupe, San Bruno, CA.
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