I am a record keeper. I track the passage of time, the migration of birds, the decline of native species, and the blooming of spring ephemerals. Painting is how I document and adore the specific natural spaces I inhabit. Adopting a schematic approach allows me to see closely and experience intimately while keeping my romantic tendency and solistalgic grief at bay. 

Currently I am documenting the 625 species listed as Endangered, Threatened or Special Concern in Connecticut. I research each species and paint a symbolic representation; each taxonomic classification has a different method of representation. Plant species are represented by painted watercolor strips, while amphibians are represented by small paintings suspended in liquid-filled specimen jars.  Learning the names of forgotten species is my way to honor and make visible the beauty, diversity and wonder that is unseen and at risk.

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Cynthia MacCollum is a painter, printmaker, and photographer who lives and works in New Canaan, CT. Her work has been shown at the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, NY; the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Norwalk, CT; Elisa Contemporary Art, NY; First Street Gallery in New York; The Kellogg Gallery at Cal Poly Pomona, Blue Print Gallery in Dallas, Panopticon Gallery in Boston, and internationally in Cadaques, Spain, the UK, France and Hong Kong.  In  2013 Cynthia’s work was selected by curator Donald Kuspit, one of 32 pieces out of thousands of submissions, to be part of the First Street Gallery National Juried Exhibit in New York City.