Meet the creator
Artist · US
Frank Mancino is a fine artist living and working in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. He works primarily in charcoal, oils and acrylics. His work ranges from traditional figurative rendering to abstract impasto color explorations in oil and acrylics. He began formal art study in 2004 with a drawing class at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, Virginia. From there he continued art studies at both NoVa and at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., eventually receiving an Associate’s Degree in Fine Art from NoVa and a Certificate in Drawing and Painting from the Corcoran. He continued his studies in academic drawing and painting with his professors Natasha Mokina and Victor Pohamkin at Winter Palace Studios in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., and sculpture study with his professor Patrick Beldio at Reunion Studios in Washington, D.C. In 2019 he left the telecommunications industry after 25 years to pursue art full-time. He is currently a member artist at Gallery 209 in Rockville, Maryland, USA, and an affiliate artist with Artists & Makers Studios in Rockville, Maryland, USA. As Vice President of Member Programs in the Montgomery Art Association (Montgomery County, MD, USA) from 2022 to 2025, he moderated the Figure Model Sundays life drawing program in addition to supporting MAA’s monthly member talks, museum field trips, and Plein air events. He has shown his drawings, paintings, and sculptures at many venues over the years, including eight shows at Artomatic in the Washington, D.C. metro area (2004-2024).
Statement
My work ranges from traditional representational figurative work to abstract color impasto explorations. I am fascinated by the human face and figure in art and am in a continual effort to create and develop expressiveness in my figurative works and studies. Several years ago I began working out the textural and sculptural possibilities of paint as a medium, and I enjoy working those textures into both my figurative paintings as well as creating pure abstract explorations in color. My abstract paintings show my continuing exploration of a heavy impasto technique to make the colors work both for and against each other — to “fight nice”, as my grandmother would have said. The kaleidoscopic arrays of intense colors and textures invite the viewer to both enjoy the sensual layers, the decorative camouflage, of what may be initially seen in the painting but then follow the intricate movement of colors and textures to unfocus and allow their initial perception to change, to coalesce into their inner visions, tensions, and sights unseen. My artistic goal is to bring these two sensibilities together into a body of work that celebrates both the inner expressions of the human form with the array of colors and textures found in my abstract impastos. I look forward to continuing this journey, and I hope you enjoy my work.
Frank Mancino
