Cynthia Greig

Artist Works

Representation 69 (Globe) - 2009
24 x 20 inches Chromogenic Photograph

Artist Bio

In this series called Representations, Cynthia Greig toys with the “concept of photographic truth and its correspondence to perceived reality.” To construct an image, the artist selects an object and “whitewashes” it with paint—occasionally leaving remnants of its natural color—and then draws an outline onto it. Finally, she photographs the muted subject in color. Greig calls these creations “photographic documents of three-dimensional drawings.”

Greig is concerned with the coexistence of contradictions and marking the moment when apparent realities collide. Greig’s photographs explore the exchange of influence between perception and experience, and the camera’s role in negotiating what is considered reality.

Using properties inherent in the camera’s lens and photographic file rather than digital manipulation, the artist creates images that investigate how information can infiltrate the consciousness, occupy memory and affect the understanding of the world that we live in. Greig’s photography ultimately questions the perceptual assumptions that define and limit experience.

Cynthia Greig lives and works in metropolitan Detroit. Her photographs, installations and videos have been exhibited in museums and galleries both in the US and abroad including the Alternative Museum in New York, Boston Center for the Arts, San Francisco Camerawork, Houston Center for Photography, SPACES Gallery in Cleveland, Gallery 44, Centre for Contemporary Photography in Toronto, Art Gallery of Windsor in Canada, Focal Point Gallery in England, Centro Cultural Recoleta in Buenos Aires, Foto Arte Brasilia and Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin.

Her work is held in the public collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, George Eastman House, Museum of Contemporary Photograpy, Chicago, Light Work, Samuel Dorsky Museum in New Paltz NY, Seattle Arts Commission, as well as numerous private collections throughout North and South America and Europe. She is the recipient of several awards, most recently having been selected as one of four runners up for the 2007 Aperture Portfolio Prize. Prior awards include the Santa Fe Center for Photography’s Assignment Earth Award (2004), the Houston Center for Photography Fellowship (2003), and an artist residency at Light Work (2001).