Monika Sofrenovic is the Marketing Specialist at CIRA. She is a recent graduate of Carleton University with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing.
As a teen, Ottawa-based artist Cynthia O’Brien moved to England. And—being “a bit of an outcast” in high school—she found her happy place in the school’s clay studio.
“I just found myself going down that path of beautiful clay and great ideas and storytelling,” Cynthia recalls.
When Cynthia came back to Canada, there was no doubt in her mind: she was going to be a clay sculptor—full stop. And she’s since made it her lifelong pursuit and passion.
Forming new connections with her .CA
Cynthia sees her .CA (cynthiaobrien.ca), as bridging the gap between her digital presence and the physical world of her studio and exhibitions.
“A lot of my work is physical, and I’d expect the viewer to be at my studio and see the work,” she says. “But on the other hand, I find having an online presence is kind of like me introducing myself to the viewer, to whoever might be interested in my work.”
Cynthia explains that a growing number of people are discovering her work via her website, which, in turn, helps build anticipation and excitement for her in-person exhibitions and shows.
“People can see the honesty and workmanship of what I do on my website—then they actually come to the shows. I’ve had people say, ‘I’ve been waiting for this, I’ve been waiting for you to turn up with this work.’ And it’s like, wow, someone has been watching me,” she says.
Cynthia’s website serves as a personal and creative outlet, giving her a space to share deeper insights about her work and openly connect with an audience.
“If you’re coming to my space, it’s like my heart is there and I don’t want to talk about the work because it’s way too emotional,” she explains. “But, sitting at my computer, making a website, it’s one step removed where I can actually talk about all kinds of stuff that I’m interested in.”
As a Canadian artist with an international reach, Cynthia views choosing a .CA domain for her website as both a unique identifier and a point of pride.
“Having a .CA versus a more generic domain tells you that, yes, I’m proud and I’m here and I’m part of the culture of Canada, of where I come from. That’s why I chose .CA,” she adds.
No shortcuts to making great art
If you ask Cynthia, there are no shortcuts to becoming truly great at one’s craft. So, that meant years of learning-by-doing along with deep self-discovery.
“I just worked and worked and worked. I made a lot of mistakes and had a lot of bad pieces. But by doing it, I actually learned how to express myself and show what I really wanted to talk about,” she says. “I’ve found that as you work through your own work, everything else kind of falls into place.”
Cynthia’s creative process has been shaped by two key influences:
The first is a deep respect for and understanding of clay as a medium.
“With clay, you cannot just make something and leave it alone,” she says. It’s about being fully present and attentive throughout the entire creative journey. “If you’re not ‘there’ for any reason, that clay will tell you off, it will blow up, it will crack.”
The second big part of Cynthia’s creative process is using art as a means of discovering one’s voice.
“When I was young, I didn’t know what I was doing but what was constant was that I needed to say something. When you’re in the studio alone, who are you talking to? You’re talking to yourself, talking to the clay,” she says.
And it’s through those discussions between artist and medium that the most deeply personal work can emerge. For Cynthia, her creations are direct translations, or representations, of her life’s experiences and feelings.
Some of her works are meditations on human fragility and mortality, while other pieces tackle her grief surrounding the death of her father.
“Whatever I experience, it comes out in the clay,” she says.
Over the last 18 years, Cynthia’s “day job,” has involved working one-on-one with the residents of an Ottawa-area long term care facility. For her, it’s work that’s yielded some of the most rewarding and powerful interpersonal connections.
“When you start to see people understanding the clay, the pride they get out of creating something—it’s the best in the world,” she says.
The future: What’s next for Cynthia
Right now, Cynthia is getting ready to unleash an exhibition that has been two years in the making.
“I’ve been slowly working through what’s in my head. And the best part about it has been just refining and revisiting those ideas. Now, I’m at a point where I can see the show. So, I’m ready to write about it and put it online for people to check it out as it comes.”
