The Art of Everyday Care: Cindy Rizza’s Still Lifes
At first glance, Cindy Rizza’s painted textiles feel so real you want to reach out and touch them. Softly draped over a chair, an intricate quilt waits to be shaken out and spread over a freshly made bed. A collected pile of doilies and napkins sit nest-like on top of a dresser, as if placed there mid-project on route to the kitchen for a cup of something comforting. They carry the weight of daily life, of care given and received, quietly holding stories of home, memory, and time passing.
Cindy grew up between Massachusetts and Maine and now lives in Southern New Hampshire, where she creates her oil paintings with a deep sensitivity to the familiar and the intimate. Trained at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, her representational style reveals layers beneath the surface: the comfort these objects offer, the shelter they create, and the bittersweet feeling of their slow fading from use.
Plethora. Oil on Linen. Cindy Rizza.
In her recent work, folded linens and treasured heirlooms are placed gently against natural backgrounds, giving them a presence beyond function. The patterns and textures bloom, becoming almost like characters themselves - symbols of continuity and care in an unpredictable world. Through carefully crafted light and shadow, Cindy invites us to reflect on how these objects shape our sense of sanctuary, and how they quietly witness the rhythms of life.
Her paintings, represented in galleries from New York to Amsterdam, celebrate the beauty of the everyday, inviting a moment of pause and connection to the objects and memories we hold closest.
View Cindy's work in her latest solo show 'Taking Care' at Galerie Mokum in Amsterdam from 31 May - 28 June 2025. And in the meantime, enjoy our latest '5 Minutes with a Friend' with the artist herself:
Cindy Rizza
Cindy, what is your first memory of a textile?
My earliest memory of textiles is the "blankies" I used to rub against my nose as a child. I’d run my fingers along their ribbed texture and breathe in the familiar scent of the fibers - it gave me a sense of comfort and security. I was an anxious kid, but carrying those blankets around made me feel safe. When I started feeling nervous at school and missed being home, my mom cut a small corner from my favorite wool blanket for me to keep in my school bag. I’d quietly sneak to the closet to touch and smell it whenever I felt sad.
Can you put into words what you love about textiles?
Textiles evoke our most personal memories of home and comfort. They are intimate by nature, being closest to our bodies - regardless of their purpose, whether for warmth, decoration, or protection. They also convey a universal language that transcends boundaries of age, race, and gender- to me, this makes an interesting painting subject.
Tea Towels. Oil on Linen. Cindy Rizza
If you make textiles, where is your most inspiring space/place to create?
As a textile painter, I create my actual paintings in the studio above my garage at home. My work is largely based on my own photography and the vintage textiles I collect - objects that feel like artefacts to me. I love photographing them outdoors in natural light, a process that often turns into a full-day endeavor, resembling a fashion shoot at times. I carefully arrange the textiles to find harmony in color, texture, and composition, all while chasing the perfect lighting. These shoots typically take place in a field at a nearby farm, which means I’m often contending with unpredictable weather and swarms of insects.
But it’s in those immersive moments with the textiles that I connect most deeply with the mood I want to convey in the final painting. By the time I return to the studio, I’m armed with sketches, sometimes over a hundred photo references, a digital collage, the actual blankets, and my vivid memory of the day (bugs and all) - everything I need to begin the work.
Nurture. Oil on Panel. Cindy Rizza.
What has inspired you recently?
I'm deeply moved by Ocean Vuong's writing. There's a profound resonance in the beautiful, precise way he captures everyday people and their surroundings. His sincerity as a writer feels courageous to me - it's often simpler to lean into cynicism or craft larger-than-life characters. Instead, he elevates the ordinary, revealing the beauty within it. I like to think that my work, too, seeks to honor and elevate the ordinary in a similar way.
What is your most cherished textile, and why?
I have over 60 blankets in the studio right now. Some are stunning quilts from the early 20th century. However my favorite blanket is a humble black granny square blanket from my Italian-American grandmother that probably started this all. The blanket itself isn’t extraordinary- it was certainly my memories of the maker that makes it most cherished.
Hard and Soft. Oil on Linen. Cindy Rizza.
Where did you learn your craft?
I studied painting at a small fine arts college in New Hampshire, where the emphasis at the time was on honing drawing skills and mastering materials. Immersing myself in studio art and art history was a formative part of my growth as an artist, but the drive to create has always been instinctive for me. Much of what I’ve learned - both in painting and in this career - has come from simply showing up and doing the work, often while juggling full-time jobs, family responsibilities, and raising children. There’s truly no substitute for what you can learn just by raw dogging it in the studio - through effort, time, and failures.
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Further Information:
'Taking Care' by Cindy Rizza is on show at Galerie Mokum in Amsterdam from 31 May - 28 June 2025.
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Image Credits:
LEAD: Mother. Oil on linen. Cindy Rizza
All other images as credited in photo captions.