Profile

With their dramatic edges and bold colors, Cynthia Hagedorn's squares are visual lessons in balance and relationships. "The patterns in my paintings have 100 percent significance, and the colors lift up the symbolic portions," she says. "Almost everything is relationship driven, asking and trying to answer the question, 'Where do I fit in with the world?'"

It's a question Hagedorn has been addressing most of her adult life. At first glance, the answer could prove elusive. Under the umbrella of Square Peg Events, LLC, Hagedorn's company that specializes in art-enhanced events, she's an independent docent at the Art Institute of Chicago, an event planner, a downtown docent in Holland, and a teacher of cultural art. She's also contracted as the director of arts and events at Nextwork, an organization devoted to developing the concept of combining business, health and wellness, and the arts in a membership-based community.

Hagedorn's diverse roles all have accompanying expectations, and she finds herself driven by a desire to deliver perfection. It's through her painting, though, that she has discovered a sense of equilibrium and the ability to express herself as she is. "My paintings are like pages from a journal," she says. "They are raw and vulnerable, a window into my experience of life." As such, Hagedorn says she has to express what feels right to her, not what she thinks others will like. When creating her art, she feels a freedom to explore the emotional spectrum - passion, sadness, confusion, curiosity, and joy - without any pressure to please others.

Bold, vivid colors fly off her brush with pure brightness. "It's the way I think life should be - vibrant, full and alive," Hagedorn explains. The placement, size and direction of her signature squares depict relationships between people, their feelings and how they relate to their environment.

Most of her works evolve as they go, following the mood of the moment. Because she often completes paintings in one sitting, Hagedorn prefers acrylic, which dries quickly and comes in colors that are easily and instantly blended. She especially enjoys painting at live events in public, at venues as varied as the Holland Symphony Orchestra, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital fundraisers, private parties and the Rothbury Festival. Hagedorn says that music, especially classical or jazz, enhances her creative process.

Although known for her painted squares, Hagedorn is experimenting with other "very abstract" art forms, and is anxious to see where that leads her. Because she believes there are no rules in painting, just techniques, she doesn't feel confined. "I'm exploring what I can do just because I like the way it feels," she explains. "How it's perceived by others will be interesting. But in the end, it all comes back to balance and acceptance of me and of the life I've chosen. As an artist, I'm always free to express a new path."

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Email: cynthiahagedorn@msn.com
Phone: 616-510-3599