Cheyenne Summers
Environmental Consulting Marketing Coordinator
and Freelance Artist
FINE ART PORTFOLIO
Cheyenne Summers uses fine art to create a link of empathy between the general public and those who have been through trauma such as child abuse, grief, neglect, the foster system, etc. In her mind, fine art can be used not only as a platform to speak out about such things, but also to heal. She often goes to teach foster youth, probation youth, and incarcerated youth how to use art as healing, to help let go of internalized issues. You can purchase some of the pieces in her Etsy shop at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PascooleoPaintings
BUTTERFLY
This piece deals with the process of grief and change. While still working through the grief of losing her foster mother, Cheyenne created this painting to process her grief. She wished to pay homage to the rebirth of the butterfly, who shows us that life goes on, even when it changes drastically.
This abstraction of the butterfly, is in the moments of rebirth from the cocoon, as it is spreading its wings in the first dance of flight.
Dimensions: TOP W 40” x L 16” MID 12” x 12” BOT W 40” x L 16”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
SELF WORTH
This is the first piece in a series that is examining the inner turmoil of those who have been displaced in their lives and the mental obstacles they face on their path, specifically focused on foster youth.
This one is focused on the mental and emotional perception self worth.It examines emotions such as feeling small, of not wanting to be a burden to the people around you, of not wanting to impose on anyone, of not sticking up for ones self and letting them walk all over you. These mental perceptions in foster youth are caused by the “if I wasn’t good enough for my family to want me/love me/respect me then why should/would anyone else?”. Overcoming this feeling is the first step of the journey.
Dimensions: W 18” x L 24”
Medium: Charcoal on paper
OVERWHELMED
This is the second piece of a series examining the inner turmoil of those who have been displaced in their lives and the mental obstacles they face on their path, specifically focused on foster youth.
This one speaks of the feeling of being powerless and ripped apart by outside forces. The mental assault of being overwhelmed as one seeks to build coping mechanisms and solutions over obstacles without the mentor-ship or parental guidance that many are supposed to receive.
Dimensions: Diameter:18”
Medium: Charcoal on canvas, colored pastel
THE TREE OF GOOD AND EVIL
This piece is a tribute to Cheyenne's late foster mother. Her foster mother was a stanch Catholic woman who went so far as to have the artist put into Catholic school for a year, in order to help her troubled daughter "find God". While Cheyenne never did find where God was hiding, she did develop a respect for her foster mother's beliefs and a good understanding of the bible. Some of Cheyenne's first paintings involve her inner turmoil concerning religion and spirituality. This piece is representative of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil that resides in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3.
Dimensions:W 36” x L 48”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
INNER SELF
This piece consists over 50 hand mixed colors/tones. It speaks about how people effect their world with their inner self through their actions and words. Each word and action ripples through the world, like ripples in the water. The effects our actions and words seems clear to us the closer in space/time that our actions occur. But our words and actions have more unpredictable effects on the world the further away in space/time they get from us. We color our world with what we do, with what comes from within us.
Dimensions:W 24” x L 18”
Medium: Acrylic on canvasboard
