Artist Statement:

Rural life is different from what I have known, having lived in a city near Boston for most of my life. We moved to Vermont during the pandemic and have stayed, never thinking of moving back.  Vermont is a series of unexpected treasures, from the salad greens of the summer, to the cold, sparkling winters, our surroundings are pristine scenes of natural beauty.  Even the highways are clear of rubbish and billboards. Our friends and acquaintances are the kindest, most generous, and interesting individuals I have ever known.  We potluck together, travel to many places together, gather for celebrations and sorrowful times, and help each other quite often.  I’m frequently outdoors with friends either walking, hiking, kayaking, biking or skiing, weather permitting.  I have never known this kind of life until now and it’s quite a good one.

This gives you a background to the art I am making now. Many small-time farmers and crafters in this region take pride in their work.  Our flower CSA provides inspiration for my own floral paintings.  The flower paintings are vibrant in color - some flowers are imaginative, others are real. They have a folk art sensibility.  I’ve incorporated quilts in some of these new still life florals, they remind me of the quilts that are sold in shops, farmers’ markets and crafted in this region.  A quilt can be an heirloom piece that you pass on, or it can tell a story of a region or time through its bits and pieces of patchworked cloth.  They’re often made and given to loved ones.

The drawings of florals and birds in charcoal on circular, oblong, rectangular, and square small canvases convey the shapes and forms of so many of the tulips and other flowers and creatures that are seen here in Vermont.  They can be arranged and rearranged into various shapes, hung in a long line, or can be shown on their own. 

Bio:

Stacey Cushner is a drawer and painter who studied fine art at Brandeis University and received her MFA in Visual Art at Lesley University's College of Art and Design.  She taught drawing and painting for many years at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, has given curatorial talks at the MFA, Boston and workshops there.  She has also taught at Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vermont.  Her work is nature based.

Stacey has shown her work at CONTEXT Pier 94 New York, SCOPE Art Basel, Basel Switzerland, Art Southampton, Southampton, NY, Art Silicon Valley, San Francisco, California and the Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA. Her work is included in private collections. She has also exhibited her work in solo, two person and group shows around the world. She has received prizes for her work, including an honorable mention from the Hollis Taggert Galleries in New York City and an honorable mention at the Blanche Ames National Exhibition in Massachusetts. She was selected to be the artist in residence at The WYE in Berlin, Germany, in Holland with the OBRAS Foundation and in 2017, was an artist in residence in Beijing, China at the Red Gate Gallery.  Her work was featured in The Art Guide, New York, New York.  She is an Associate member of the Kingston Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts and shows her work at Artistree Gallery, Pomfret, Vermont.

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