Marfa Artist Profile: Cindy Holmes

Last year, local artists Cindy Holmes and Kenisha Webster were selected to showcase work in the 2025 Marfa Invitational Open. The Marfa Invitational Open is a major exhibition showcasing top Texas talents. It features over 150 artists, including newcomers and established figures across various mediums. The event aims to discover new talent while honoring Texas’ most celebrated artists. One year later, Cindy and Kenisha reflect on their Marfa experiences, as well as their lives as artists more generally.

Tell us about yourself, your background, and your art. 

I really became invested in art about 35 years ago, when my son and daughter were entering high school. I always had an interest in art, and I finally found time to explore and learn within art workshops. I loved landscape painting and continued with it until my kids were finished with college. Soon after, I became a caregiver for my parents, and painting took a backseat, but I did have time to think about painting and what I really wanted to say. Later on, I made a conscious decision to change to painting people. I felt it gave me more opportunities to tell the stories I had within me. So now I tell stories through an expressive lens based on figures that I view as mannequins brought to life through paint. They talk about my thoughts, my childhood memories, books, poetry, and anything else that flitters through my mind. Some people have accused me of painting dark humor, but I think that duality reflects our human emotions and the light and shadow of our everyday lives.

How was your experience with Marfa?

The trip to Marfa was a blast! I had one friend ride to Marfa with me, and four others from Texarkana came down to support me and explore the wilds of Marfa. Those five became known as my “groupies,” as I was the only artist there who had such an entourage. Marfa is such a weird, fun, artsy place in the middle of nowhere, and the opportunity to talk with so many artists across the width of Texas was a once-in-a-lifetime event for me (so far). [Marfa Invitational cofounder] Sonia Borell was there to talk about her book on how to make connections with other artists and people, and that struck home with me, as I’m very much a hermit. I also got to meet [artist] Ray Smith, who knew Andy Warhol and Alice Neel and many other artists from the New York art scene. He told great stories. All in all, it was an inspiring trip that pushed me to keep on working.

Where are you from, and how does that affect your work?

I grew up in Mississippi and have lived in Texas for the last 30 years. I think that living in smaller towns has affected how I view art. It’s taken real work on my part to expose myself to different kinds of art, through books, Instagram, and museums.

Who is your favorite artist?

Francis Bacon will probably always remain at the top of my list for his grotesque people, Daniel Richter for his electrifying immigrants lost in boats and political paintings, and Anselm Kiefer for his monumental layered paintings.

What is something you always have with you?

My camera phone, because people don’t always stay still long enough for me to sketch them.

What is the biggest challenge of being an artist?

My biggest challenge is having confidence in myself and not putting myself down. I will always see other artists who I feel are much better at everything, so I have to give myself pep talks to love myself, love my art, and love the place I’m in.

How is art important to society?

I think art holds up a mirror to society. I feel like art has splintered in many directions in the last 100 years, and that’s okay. It’s given many artists the opportunity to show their own vision of the world by using paintings, installations, videos, sculptures, photos, clay, and anything else an artist wants to call art. Humans just have to be creative!

How do you define success as an artist?

I see success as an artist as being able to paint exactly what I want to paint, no matter if someone likes it or not.

What’s something that people who know you would be surprised to learn?

People might be surprised to learn that I’m a big sci-fi reader. I grew up reading about black holes, IVF, cloning, and AI, long before any medical successes or theories were proven. Years ago, I dragged my husband to one of the first sci-fi films about black holes. As we were standing in line to get tickets, he was complaining he didn’t even know what a black hole was, so of course I got to tell him all about it. Amazingly, a number of people in line gathered around to hear my explanation. I felt incredibly vindicated for reading “trashy” sci-fi novels.