About
Misha Cittadini is a Czech-born abstract painter based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds an MFA from the Academy of Art University and a degree in Finance from Duquesne University. Her large-scale paintings use layered acrylic, ink, and spray paint to explore invisible wave structures — the patterns behind sound, light, and water. She often works on inverted, unprimed canvas, letting gravity and material behavior become collaborators, and embeds fiber-optic light into painted surfaces.
She received the Best Abstract Award at the AAU Spring Show 2025 and an Honorable Mention in 2026. Selected from over 950 national entries for the 63rd Stockton Art League National Juried Exhibition at the Haggin Museum, her work received an Honorable Mention — one of only seven awards. She has exhibited at The Other Art Fair, Superfine Art Fair, and the David Sutherland Showroom, Los Angeles, with collectors across the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Her studio is in Sausalito.
Artist statement
Everything we experience — sound, light, color — travels as a wave. My paintings begin in that invisible territory, where energy moves through matter and something emerges from nothing. Working at large scale with acrylic, ink, and spray paint, I build translucent layers that shift between revelation and dissolution. I often paint on inverted, unprimed canvas, letting gravity and material behavior introduce forces I can respond to but never fully control. My Resonance Series follows wave patterns across acoustic vibrations, ocean currents, and light — the moment chaos organizes into something rhythmic and alive. The paintings don’t illustrate these forces; they try to behave like them. In my Interference series I cut finished paintings apart and glue the sections back into layered compositions — what waves do when they meet, reinforcing and cancelling into a pattern neither holds alone. I embed physical light into the work, extending the question from depicting light to emitting it.
Education & awards
- 2023–2025 MFA in Fine Art, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA
- 2001–2003 B.S. in Business Administration (Finance), Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA
- 1993–1997 High School Diploma (Maturita), Gymnázium Fr. Křižíka, Pilsen, Czech Republic
- 5/2025 Best Abstract, AAU Spring Show, San Francisco
- 2/2025 Anti-War Award, “Fragile Light in Dark Times,” HMVC Gallery, NYC
Collections
- Over 30 paintings sold through art fairs (2023–2025)
- Collectors in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States
- Commission: Meredith Kellner (2023)