Cynthia D’Souza
cm.dsouza64@gmail.com
IG: @dsouzapriint
Studio: A13, Atlas Business Centre, London, NW2 7JH
Cynthia is a British visual artist, whose studio practice is based in North West London. Contemplating a change in career direction, to get back to her creative roots, she returned to education in 2019 and gained a Masters in Printmaking from Middlesex University.
D’Souza uses her camera to capture fleeting moments, objects and places, frequently focusing on natural elements alongside urban reflective materials. The camera is her visual sketchbook and feeds her imagery, which translates into her distinctive approach to print.
Experimenting with printmaking techniques, D’Souza works with an unconventional approach, spontaneously creating painterly abstract layers. The dominant theme being the never-ending colour harmonies, investigating compositional balance and exploring the qualities of ink.
Her artistic practice embraces chance and the spontaneous random event, developing themes and motifs. Each series of work is a journey of discovery, often risking everything on the ‘happy accident’. The resulting unique small limited editions have subtle variations.
Floating Stones I
Screenprint
Image size 10 x 10 cm
Paper size 19 x 19 cm
Variable Edition of 3
Unframed £75
Ripple I(fo)
Screenprint
Image size 16.5 x 16 cm
Paper size 19 x 19 cm
Variable Edition of 3
Unframed £150
Pavement Fiesta I
Screenprint
Image size 27 x 20 cm
Paper size 31 x 37 cm
Variable Edition of 6
Unframed £225
Colour Mix
Screenprint
Image size 40 x 40 cm
Paper size 54.5 x 54 cm
Variable Edition of 6
Unframed £300
Reuleaux I -
Screenprint
Image size 22.5 x 22.5cm
Paper size 50 x 49 cm
Monoprint
Unframed £250
Pavement Lights
Screenprint
Image size 27 x 20 cm
Paper size 31 x 37 cm
Variable Edition of 6
Unframed £225
Strata I
Screenprint
Image size 59 x 42 cm
Paper size 67 x 50 cm
Variable Edition of 6
Unframed £375
Jeopardy is at the heart of Cynthia D’Souza’s creative process, but the kernel of ideas often flow from a more considered starting point.
For this series of work, The British Museum’s collection of Chinese jade artefacts inspired the ‘Disc’ and ‘Axe’ prints. The motifs of rings, circles and discs often materialise in Cynthia’s prints in one form or another. It was the translucent quality of the stone ‘Bi’ discs, their symbolic representation of heaven and skies revolving around a central axis that caught her attention to create the layered and fractured textures for the ‘Disc’ screenprints.
The Neolithic jade axe heads were prized for their hardness and durability and regarded as sacred pieces with divine powers to protect and heal. These beautiful shapes of the axe heads textured grainy stone with punctured holes, provided the spark of inspiration for the ‘Axe’ prints. The stylised axe heads provided the vehicle to explore colour and texture, within the shape in different colourways that complement the ‘Disc’s’.
The ‘Trinity’ series take their inspiration with the challenge using three stylised elements (an ancient belt buckle, flint arrow and axe head) and placing them in different configurations to explore compositional balance. The postcard sized ‘Counterbalance’ series also uses shapes which vie with each other to adjust their weight and reach a sense of improbable balance.