asian-american artist
Cynthia Woong
sculpture and sculptural jewelry
Capturing Grace: Cynthia’s Story
by Li-at Friedman
Artist Cynthia Woong has beautiful hands – hands
that would rather be molding clay than folded neatly in
her lap as they are now. She laughs when I ask about the
inspiration for her work, eyes twinkling. “You know how
artists are always saying, ‘this slab of marble sculpted
itself’ or ‘this painting just flowed out of my brush?’” she
says. Her hands come to life as she speaks. “Well, I hate
to be cliché… but that’s usually the way it happens for
me!”
Her house is chock-full of Cynthia’s artwork, from
beautiful bronze sculptures to Native American tribal
shields to intricately-woven wire jewelry. Her work
has been featured in galleries and
boutiques along the California coast
as well as urban centers throughout
the US. Every piece marks a moment
in her life; as she leads me around,
anecdotes seem to spill from each
one. I am both fascinated and
impressed by the sheer variety of
skills she harbors—especially since
she’s self-taught.
Clay has not always been her
medium of choice. Cynthia received a
bachelor’s degree in the Interior/Environmental Design
Program from the California College of the Arts. She
began her career as an interior architectural designer,
casually
taking
sculpting classes on
the side.
Then
Cynthia
injured her back and
she was suddenly faced
with the possibility of a
limited physical future.
As a child, she had
yearned to explore
the world of dance
but never had the
opportunity; in her midforties, she realized
she was running out of
time to try.
It didn’t take long
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for Cynthia to fall in love
with dance. Barre exercises
rejuvenated her spirit while
strengthening her muscles.
As her body healed, she
sought
out
additional
classes: African Brazilian,
jazz
fusion,
hip-hop,
ballroom – every genre she
could possibly find. “I’ve
always been captivated
by the athletic grace, the
sheer amount of dedication dancers have,” she tells me,
“Dancing takes years and years of training – but appears
so impossibly seamless.”
After Cynthia fulfilled her childhood
dream, she moved on to achieve a new
goal in life: fusing her new found passion
with sculpture by designing her own
line of dance-inspired jewelry. The artist
explains that dance helped her rediscover
the human body as an extension of the
life force within. She is both drawn to
and fascinated by the ways people use
movement to express themselves and loves
to portray these sentiments in her work. In
her Dance Jewelry Collection, the timeless
elegance of each sterling silver figure captures the very
essence of lyrical movement, offers a split-second view
into the depths of a dancer’s soul. She explains that
this timelessness is a self-imposed requirement when
designing her pieces. “I want my jewelry to surpass me,
surpass my lifetime,” she explains. I have never seen
anything like it.
As a final thought, the sculptor shares one of her
favorite quotations with me: “There is no greater agony
than bearing an untold story inside you” (Maya Angelou).
Cynthia is neither a classically-trained artist nor a
professional dancer— “I’m still a novice,” she admits—yet
after hearing her story and seeing her work, I realize she
has inadvertently mastered both. The fluidity, poise, and
pure emotion of her Dance Jewelry Collection reflect the
joy of dance just as purely as the pieces reflect the artist
herself. From experienced dancers to those with simply
a humble appreciation for the art, Cynthia Woong’s
sterling silver Dance Jewelry Collection resonates with
us all.