A full mind

'A full mind' is a visual representation of the dynamic connections between thoughts, memories and stimuli in a busy, creative mind.

In this painting creatures and objects roam freely between rooms constructed of paper thin white walls. Within these walled compartments are vast worlds to roam and explore: a galaxy, a black hole that disappears into a moon, a city-scape, a cold mountain range.

Whilst the white walls are a nod to the white cube gallery and tradition of drawing and writing on paper, hidden within the composition are nods to psychology and spirituality. The grey cold world in the lower right represents our shadow self (an uncomfortable yet intriguing world worth exploring), the glowing sphere in the paintings centre captures the reflection of a small meditating figure and represents awareness of our transitional experiences and thoughts, the self portrait next to the abstract figure embracing the sphere represents our relationship to our physical versus our inner identities.

This artwork took three months of full time painting to create and is designed so that the more you look the more you discover.

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Cynthia Howard is a contemporary artist working mostly in oil paints. Her concepts come from stream-of-consciousness and either manifest as the free-flowing lines in her colourful abstract figures, or as the surrealist undertones in her realistically painted compositions. Sometimes she combines realism with her abstract figures in one concept. Cynthia Howard’s work surrounds an interest in life philosophy, meaningful relationships and self actualisation. The portraits and subjects she portrays are treated with reverence, focussing on their self-ownership, strength and wholeness. Her paintings deal predominately with the richness of our internal psychological and emotional world and musings about how we radiate energy and intention in our outer world.