Grace Cerveny

I’m so excited to have found such a new and young artist in Grace Cervney at an end of year Art Exhibition at Wellington College in the summer of 2017.  Her work stood out for me and spoke to my heart – I loved her bold and fresh use of colour giving her portraits a vitality and beauty’.

Grace is 19 years old and studying at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the US. She’s always been creating and inventing since a very young age but  started developing a particular passion for painting at GCSE level. She studied Art, Spanish and English at Wellington College and chose to study colour and portraiture for the two years. In the summer after I graduated in 2017 I was lucky enough to work on this very exciting commission, of a mother and son acrylic portrait painting. Grace explains, “ I was to encapsulate an equilibrium of gender using colour whilst considering the emotions present within the portraits. I was given a lot of space for self-expression and artistic license allowed me to play with colour and geometry to create a balanced mood throughout the picture plane. The brief was fantastic, flexible and truly inspiring because it not only allowed me to expand on a particular style of portraiture I had developed but it also allowed me to apply my colour theory knowledge and painting skills in an environment outside of the classroom. The mood of these portraits would change with every brushstroke I placed which proved to be a challenging but informative process because I learnt how expression changes with the manipulation of colour”. 

After finishing her foundation year at RISD she has learned a lot more than artistic lessons about spatial dynamics and design. “ Foundation year has also been a time to reflect on my career ambitions and what other passions I have had to set aside in order to pursue art such as music and languages. There is no doubt for me that I will be exploring many different types of art and means of employing it in the years to come, whether its digital, sculptural, or traditional oil painting. I hope to create my own career or follow a less obvious path while I continue to push and refine my skills in everything I do”.

I certainly believe that Grace Cerveny is a talent to watch out for as her star rises! She’s fearless and unique and a lot of fun to be around! Thank you for supplying me with this intimate artwork which is above and beyond my expectations. 

‘Thank you Grace for being fearless in accepting my brief and for delivering over, above and beyond my wildest dreams.  You were a joy to work with, so open to ideas and such fun too!’

Grace can be contacted via her email at grace@ascancroft.com