California native Greg Breda’s beautiful acrylic depiction of a mature African American woman in fancy pink top with patterns clasping hands together with a contemplative expression on her face and positioned against a background of cherry blossoms has the title, “What Shall I Cry?” which refers to a biblical passage from Isaiah regarding the fleeting nature of life on Earth. Breda is a contemporary visual artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. Navigating the spaces between figuration and abstraction, light and shadow, Breda’s mark making employs distinctively pronounced and painterly brushstrokes to explore the complexities, resilience, strength, and beauty of the human spirit. Sourcing media, memory, and spiritual identity, he constructs realistic central themes of quiet contemplation that consider the eternal “internal” that impact the external world, set against backgrounds that shift between abstraction, minimalism, and lushly rendered landscapes. Often referencing ancient text, nature, and the language of flowers, he ascribes metaphor and symbolism with the intention of excavating an overstanding of our matrix of life. His work is focused on discovering equilibrium between the physical and spiritual worlds.

What Shall I Cry by Greg Breda (American) - Acrylic on vellum / 2020 - Columbus Museum of Art (Ohio) #womeinart #portrait #art #gregbreda #acrylicart #artwork #ColumbusMuseumofArt #portraitofawoman #acrylicpainting #womensart #americanart #fineart #americanartist #africanamericanart #modernart