Cynthia Chapman (b. 1977, Toronto)

Cynthia Chapman is an acclaimed Canadian abstract painter recognized for her intuitive mastery of colour, dynamic impasto, and emotionally charged compositions that place her firmly within the lineage of significant postwar Canadian abstraction. Her work oscillates between bold gestural expressionism and quieter, meditative passages, revealing a painter deeply committed to exploring colour as both structure and emotional catalyst. Chapman’s paintings immerse viewers in rhythmic fields of movement—energetic, tactile surfaces where colour is laid down in blocks, strokes, and layered currents that vibrate with musicality.

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Chapman received early recognition for her talent. She was awarded the Solomon Painting Award in 2000, followed by the Mrs. W.O. Forsyth Award upon her graduation in 2003. That same year she joined the prestigious Moore Gallery under the direction of Ron Moore, a gallery known for exhibiting historically important artists including Jean-Paul Riopelle, Guido Molinari, Harold Town, Michael Snow, and Paterson Ewen. Moore immediately recognized Chapman as a defining young painter of her generation, representing her in a series of highly successful solo exhibitions throughout the early 2000s. Her large-scale works from this period were prominently commissioned, most notably by The Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville, Toronto.

Chapman’s approach to painting is rooted in spontaneity and emotional responsiveness. She works without a predetermined plan; “one touch of the canvas leads to another,” she notes, describing a process in which each colour supports the next, accumulating into compositions that unfold like a journey. Her thick impasto—often troweled or heavily brushed across the horizon line of her compositions—creates a sense of physical momentum. The resulting surfaces teem with activity, from surging fields of colour to subtle shifts in tone and rhythm. Art historian Joan Murray describes Chapman as “an innovative colorist making some of the most riveting paintings of her career,” noting that her chromatic choices “vibrate like chords in a thrilling piece of music.”

In addition to her own studio career, Chapman worked closely with senior Canadian abstract painter Ron Martin from 2011 to 2017, assisting in the production of three major exhibitions at Christopher Cutts Gallery. This mentorship—which connected her directly to one of the country’s most influential abstract artists—deepened her understanding of materiality, scale, and the long tradition of Canadian abstraction.

In 2017, Chapman joined Hatch Gallery in Prince Edward County, where she presented five solo exhibitions over six years, including Don’t Tread On Me (2017), That Way, My Way (2018), When Push Comes to Shove (2019), Impact (2021), and Restless Attraction (2022). These exhibitions reinforced her reputation as a painter whose works command attention through movement, colour, and dynamic surface tension. In his 2020 essay Painting Physically: Evolving Legacies, critic Bart Gazzola wrote that Chapman’s Let It Bleed “leaps off the wall…both rich and a bit revulsive, in an enticing way,” emphasizing her ability to balance beauty with edge.

Since 2020, Chapman has been represented by the John Mann Gallery (formerly 13th Street Gallery) in St. Catharines, Ontario. She has completed three solo exhibitions with the gallery: Evolving Legacies (2020), Recovery (2021), and Chapman (2023).

Chapman’s paintings have been acquired by numerous private and corporate collectors across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. Her works continue to attract strong collector interest due to their expressive richness, sophisticated colour sensibility, and deep connection to the lineage of Canadian abstraction. As Ron Moore notes, “Her control of paint and colour is unbelievable… Cynthia Chapman is on her way to becoming a very important artist in Canadian art history.”

Today, Chapman is regarded as a painter whose career reflects both continuity and innovation: an artist grounded in the legacy of Riopelle and the great abstract painters of Canada, while forging a voice unmistakably her own. With increasing critical recognition, expanding gallery representation, and a growing presence in significant collections, Chapman stands as one of the most compelling contemporary abstract painters working in Canada.