º£½ÇÉçÇø

º£½ÇÉçÇø — Take a deeper look at three other exceptional graduates who forged different paths and obstacles to reach their goals.

Cynthia Aguiar grew up on a farm in northern Colorado, raising chickens and horses. From a young age, she embodied the mentality that whatever your dream -- if you can build it, you can do it. 

“I always found myself building and creating things,” Aguiar said. “For example, growing up, we were always building dog houses, a wheelchair for our bunny, fixing up the horse shed and just working on things around the house.” 

While that took shape as physical labor at first, it quickly molded into art. In the fifth grade, Aguiar fell in love with painting and developed her first artist signature, a secret symbology that she still hides in her pieces to this day. 

“That’s when I knew I had a passion for art, but it wasn’t until I got older that I knew I wanted to make it a career,” Aguiar said.  

Fast forward to 2021, Aguiar enrolled at Aims Community College and joined the Aims2UNC program. Knowing she wanted to focus on art, she studied Liberal Arts and received her associate degree before transferring to the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). 

“I chose UNC primarily because of the Aims2UNC program; it was the best financial option with a smooth credit transfer process,” Aguiar said.  

At first, Aguiar thought she would pursue teaching at UNC or even painting, but her early coursework introduced her to a newly found passion in sculpting, which brought her back to her childhood hands-on frame of mind. 

Studying in the School of Art and Design (SOAD) allowed her to experiment in classical sculpting methods using diverse materials such as bronze, ceramic and wood, along with cutting-edge technology, like 3D printing and laser cutting. 

“UNC has given me the opportunity to work with high-end tools that have allowed my imagination to flourish,” Aguiar said. “Without access to these resources and the valuable lessons I’ve learned, I’m not sure what kind of art I’d be making today.” 

When she first started creating art, Aguiar’s style was traditional, but now she leans into more hybrid methods, mixing technology in with traditional artworks. 

“This started with wanting to add more depth to my painting,” Aguiar said. “So, I started to cut them up and then paint a second painting to put on the back and inlay lights in the middle so I could create this dichotomy in between traditional elements." 

Aguiar describes her work as “dream-esque” or surrealist. But the feedback she gets the most from others is that her style is “creepy.” 

“Which is a compliment to me,” Aguiar said. “As long as people are feeling something when they look at my art.”

To explain this, Aguiar picked up one of her latest sculptures, a hand-held-sized woman in a tabletop position with her head facing the sky, and described why she decided to slice her stomach open. 

“It speaks about how we don’t have control over our body as a woman, and it’s a very violent way of showing it, but it does the trick,” Aguiar said.  

When deciding what to create, Aguiar says she taps into her observant nature, reiterating what she sees but creating it in a different form. 

“Currently, I’m working on a really big, 2-foot by 3-foot sculpture of a head made of foam, cardboard and papier-mâché,” Aguiar said. “I’m trying to simulate what it would be like for a human to have memories, specifically memories from the 21st century.” 

For the past two years, Aguiar has helped run the Digital Fabrication Studio in the Arts Annex Building as a studio technician, so she has had plenty of time to explore her creativity, helping spawn ideas like the memory sculpture. When she is not working on her own art, she is able to help her fellow classmates with their ideas when they’re stuck or brainstorming.  

She has also worked at many galleries on campus, including the gallery in the Campus Commons, the Oak Room in Crabbe Hall and the Mariani Gallery in Guggenheim Hall, where she helps artists position and install their work. 

“I’ve learned how to showcase different materials properly, how to light them and just experiment with the placement of objects and how they can transform a room,” said Aguiar. 

This skill came in handy at the end of March when her artwork was on full display in the Oak Room Gallery for more than a week. It was Aguiar’s first solo gallery, and she titled it ‘A Digital Renaissance.’ 

“It was amazing,” Aguiar said. “I was really blessed to show it and get a reaction from people. You can sit in a class and hear the students’ feedback, but when it’s outside in a real gallery and there is lighting on your work and it’s professional, it’s a whole different feeling.” 

In the gallery, Aguiar hung up a projection that displayed multiple images layered on top of each other. She also showcased a sculpture wrapped in foil called ‘Machine Girl’ and a physical piece called ‘The Human PC,’ a computer made of faux human parts, like teeth for the keyboard’s keys and ears for speakers. 

Aside from her solo gallery, Aguiar has had the opportunity to highlight her work in almost every SOAD art exhibition during her undergraduate experience, including the 2023 Juried Art Exhibition, the 2024 Sothard Award Exhibition and the 2024 Annual Student Juried Exhibition. She was also recently recognized as a finalist in the 2025 , SOAD’s most prestigious competition. 

“These experiences have truly shaped my growth as an artist, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had,” Aguiar said. 

Aguiar says excelling in these opportunities has opened a can of worms and made her ready to explore the art world after graduation. 

“I had a little taste of having an exhibition, and I want more,” Aguiar said.  

Aguiar’s dream is to become a well-known artist in Denver and have her art make people question their reality. 

“I want people to think about themselves and the world around them because it’s something that we’re in every day,” Aguiar said. “Reality can be very beautiful and really horrific at times – it’s something I can’t keep out of my art.” 

Aguiar knows she wouldn’t have the confidence to dream about displaying her artwork in Denver without her time at Aims and UNC and the opportunities she’s had in SOAD and other outside programs. 

Specifically, Aguiar speaks about her experience as a , which focuses on providing financial support for transfer students who have already demonstrated academic and leadership potential, and her involvement in UNC’s Center for Human Enrichment program (CHE), which assists first-generation students in their academic and personal growth. She says having the support from both communities has been life-changing. 

“You develop friendships so easily with people going through the same situations as you are, and that’s why I think those groups are really important,” Aguiar said. “CHE even helped me get a car. I never knew how to go about that, and they helped me become a more stable human.” 

Now she’s ready to get her hands dirty, not at her family farm, but in the real world, and have her technology-inspired art change the perspectives of those who witness it in the future. 

To check out Aguiar’s artwork, .