NIYA C SISK MFA
I grew up in Northern CA amongst the vines, goats, chickens and an abandoned train car that I hid away in to draw my pictures. I don’t have traditional art training. The MFA is in fiction writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. Most of my work is narrative; inspiration and ideas come simultaneously in story and image.
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I love how the Italians will tolerate imperfection in most aspects of their culture except the art of the beautiful; the furniture, churches, architecture, food and wine, glass, paintings, sculpture and the men and women. They take great pride in the beauty of the country and language and want to document it as much as possible, as though it’s the last trustworthy frontier. I feel this way when I paint. It’s a place of peace; a trustworthy mirror that reaches past media, cultural impositions and my own interpretations.
Technically I’m a finger painter. I find that I get to the core of the subject much more easily and I enjoy the intimacy with the work that is helped by not using brushes—to observe how easily form, line, color finds its place in the story.