CYNTHIA DIGIACOMO
Artist and designer Cynthia DiGiacomo presents imagery that celebrates the rugged yet fragile beauty of life by the sea. An inherent sense of wonderment inspires her to create printmaking tapestries—original layered works that reflect a deep connection to place. Her practice has evolved organically, shaped by immersion in the environments of East End Long Island, Northern California, and the Cyclades.
My work unfolds as a printmaking tapestry of sorts—with photographic imagery serving as the binding thread, revealing untold stories. The sea and its surroundings, with profound beauty and elemental truth, lie central to my artistic expression. Through the pattern and movement found in nature, I seek to reveal the enduring interconnectedness and oneness between the natural world and human life. This exploration allows me to share my perspective while inviting viewers to reflect on their own experience and connection, to these precious resources – and to one another.
Through printmaking and paint, Cynthia embraces the opportunity to share photographic fragments across time, place, and sentiment—expressing who she is and all that brings her here now, woven into a single, unique composition. The interplay of layers shifts from abstract to figurative to symbolic, emerging as metaphoric abstraction that expresses both personal narrative and collective memory. Dreamlike and dimensional, each piece offers viewers a mirror in which to explore their own liminal spaces.
Cynthia’s recent expressions reflect on a part of her heritage in looking at the role of Hellenic women in weaving, pattern, and myth in ancient and contemporary Greece. Her recent solo exhibit of monotypes, Penelope’s Warp + Weft, intend to illuminate the timelessness of Hellenic women loom weavers, drawing parallels between current day weavers and weaving figures of ancient Greece, including Penelope in Homer's Odyssey and Athena and Arachne in Greek mythology. This collection is a tribute to an overlooked gender and craft in history, inspired by the remarkable women loom weavers of Naxos, Greece. The work, guided by Cynthia’s research and experience, Unraveling Laertes Shroud, Helen’s Peplos, and Panathenaea, mirror human nature and ingenuity. Utilizing discarded fabric, thread, pins, and printed news in the painting and printmaking processes, abstract movement and patterns manifest in method and metaphor. Themes from Cynthia’s investigations are also revealed through symbol, as seen in pixelization textures mirroring the relationship of ancient Greek women weaving practices to the origins of computational math.
Cynthia’s recent residencies include Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Yellow Chair Salon, Skopelos Art Foundation, and ongoing at Dan Welden Studio. Her work is found in private collections and juried exhibitions in the Northeast and California and through Art Studio Hamptons Gallery. Cynthia leads workshops in Markmaking and Printmaking without a Press: Analog + Digital Collage. DiGiacomo holds a BFA in Graphic Design with a fine art foundation and an MA in Liberal Studies. Cynthia continues her 25-year design practice and recent teaching at CCPS/Fashion Institute of Technology.