Connie Freid

I paint in acrylics and mixed media, using portraiture to tell stories. A contemporary realist, I create tension between content and process, maintaining the figure while applying paint in an abstract expressionist manner. Buyers of my work say they are drawn to its narrative richness, psychological nuances and ambiguities. Art critics have called my pieces “powerful, poignant and provocative”, noting that they combine beauty and mystery.

People and the paradoxes of contemporary life fascinate me. I'm attracted to the humanism and intimate studies of ordinary people shown by painters ranging from Goya and Rembrandt to Alice Neel and Marlene Dumas. Like these old and contemporary masters, I use portraiture to explore complex issues of identity.

I'm curious about how our heritage and traditions define us. Women appear regularly in my art. I express the contradictory ways we view them – as icons and sex objects, angels and demons, superwomen and victims. I'm fascinated by certain faces and choose subjects who project inner strength even as they deal with uncertainty. I often find myself painting isolated figures with haunting gazes, contrasting their solitude with an undercurrent of anxiety.

Fifteen years ago, following a career in economic development, I decided to pursue my life-long interest in art. As a child, growing up in Philadelphia, my favorite activities included drawing and making collages. I took art lessons at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art before winning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania where I earned a B.S. After working in public relations for several years, I married and, in short order, had three children. While they were in school, I got an MBA.

I worked in both the private and public sectors for many years, but taking classes at the Westchester County Workshop made me realize that my true passion was art. Classes at SUNY Purchase, Silvermine guild of Art, and the International Center of Photography gave me new skills and direction.

In 2010, I won the Best in Show Francis K. Brooks Memorial Award for my painting, "Waiting", at the Greenwich Art Society Bendheim Exhibit. In 2009, I received Honorable Mention at the Art Society of Old Greenwich show, "In the Mood for Color." At the Rye Arts Center, I won Best in Show for Painting in 2008 and First Place in Painting in 2006. In 2005, I won the Myra C. Berol Award at the 33rd Annual Bedford Art Show.

I have had four solo shows: "The Feminine Mystique, Redux" at Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville NY), "Inspirations" at the Rye Free Reading Room (Rye NY), "Dreams and Destinies" at the Harrison Public Library (Harrison NY) and "Sounds of Silence" at the Riverdale Temple (Bronx NY). I was one of two featured artists in "Face to Face" at Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College Art Center.

Recent juried shows include "Juxtapositions" (Flinn Gallery), "Crossing Borders" (Progreso Gallery, Mexico), "Discoveries" (George Segal Gallery, Montclair State University), 3rd and 4th Annual Human Rights Exhibits (South Texas College and University of Monterrey, Mexico), "Spectrum" (New Canaan Society for the Arts), "Re-Flowering the Garden: Women and Nature" (Mills Pond House Gallery), "Women, Words and Images" (Mills Pond House Gallery), 32nd and 33rd Annual Art Shows (Bedford), "Real to Unreal" (Hammond Museum), "The Contemporary Portrait" (Rye Arts Center), "Viewpoints" (Northern Westchester Center for the Arts), "Art of the Northeast" (Silvermine Guild), RGA Annual Shows(Ridgefield Guild of Artists), "The Human Presence: Interpretations" (Westchester Arts Exchange), Allied Artists of America (National Arts Club), "Waterworks" (Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery, Iona College) and the Consulate of Venezuela.

In addition, I have exhibited work at the White Plains Library, Westchester Medical Center, Garrison Art Center, Westport Art Center, Ceres Gallery, Brewster Gallery and Art54 Gallery.

I am a member of the Allied Artists of America, Greenwich Art Society, Ridgefield Guild of Artists, Westchester Arts Council, Art Society of Old Greenwich and Blue Door Gallery.