Marilyn Cvitanic is an NYC based artist who began painting after
completing a PHD in Policy Analysis. Art school wasn't on her radar, but
by the time she reached her early 30s it became clear that she had to
change paths and start painting. Her work is abstract and intuitive
with occasional figurative references, primarily to her environment.
Marilyn is also a dedicated animal lover and between larger projects she sketches the small cat portraits as seen in this exhibition. Her studio doubled as a cat shelter for many years and originally began creating portraits of the cats that shared her space. Commissioned portraits are available upon request.
Marilyn has exhibited her work in New York City, Los Angeles and her ancestral home of Croatia. She has also taught studio art and lectured in art history for approximately twenty years with an emphasis on fashion history

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

The world is often a repressive place, and art should be anything but. On a personal level, that means working intuitively. I find that drawing and painting are a natural process… the continuous interaction between my brain, heart, hands, and materials. Over the past twenty years I’ve created several series of paintings. While divergent in theme, the pieces appear to hang together harmoniously on the wall as an integrated body of artwork, despite various patterns and color schemes.
Years ago, I made the conscious decision to become an artist, (which as a holder of a doctorate in policy analysis) meant passing on job opportunities, that undoubtedly would have been more lucrative. Challenging as this decision was, it freed me to work intuitively, leading to a diverse body of work.
Devoting oneself to repetition of style may be a lucrative commercial path and work well for others but not for me. Faced with the choice of painting for a market, or following popular trends, I might as well have taken a straight full-time job and made steady money.
While some have suggested I “organize my thoughts” or “find my identity” as an artist, or develop a grand intellectual concept that I continually work and rework, that would make me feel like a lion, trapped in a cage, pacing in circles.
For whatever reason artists are expected to justify themselves. Well, here goes… My work expresses a variety of thought - conscious and subconscious, all happening simultaneously. Sometimes one thought becomes dominant, as in my “Fallout Flowers” series, which is a meditation on nuclear annihilation. While I find these works disturbing, others see beauty. After all, a mushroom cloud can be beautiful, although most of us are terrified by it. Whether one sees radioactive mutation in my flowers, or a bright graceful floral arrangement is left up to the viewer, depending on their frame of mind, just as the creation of these works is a reflection of mine. I do strive to create beauty… but with a caveat.