Loren Snyk: The Art of Persistence

Windows #2, Photography printed on wood, with oil and paint, 16 x 16 in 

By KATE HOAG, April 22, 2025

Loren Snyk’s path to the art world is anything but conventional. A multidisciplinary creative, she began her career on the runway and in fashion magazines before working with major fashion houses like Chanel and Hermès. Later, she made a complete pivot into the world of cybersecurity. Today, she blends these seemingly disparate experiences into work that interrogates identity, perception and transformation in the digital age.

Her mixed media and oil paintings are as much about concealment as they are about revelation. Built through layers of paint, wax, photography and texture, Snyk’s pieces mirror the complexities of selfhood in a world shaped by constant surveillance and curated digital identities. For her, the act of layering isn’t just visual. It’s also deeply emotional. “True art is going to be something that you express from your soul,” she says, “and it will relate to human emotion in some way.”

Mask, cold wax and oil painting on wood, 20 x 16 in

During her modeling career, Snyk experienced both the glamour and limitations of the fashion world. “Models were really on the low end of the totem pole,” she recalls. That realization marked a shift from subject to storyteller. She began working behind the scenes, managing industry itineraries and learning the mechanics behind the image. Rather than appear in someone else’s vision, she wanted to shape the narrative herself.

This desire led her to photography and eventually to an unexpected detour: earning a degree in cybersecurity from Harvard. While it might seem unrelated, the discipline has deeply informed her artistic mindset. “In cybersecurity, you see things that you think would make good art,” she explains. Her visual work echoes themes of stealth, protection and layered systems. A background in graphic design, which she studied alongside her tech coursework, sharpened her eye for aesthetics and detail. Even in her corporate career, she found ways to bring a creative touch to technical work, often designing presentations that stood out to CEOs for their use of color and layout.

The King's Court, oil painting on canvas, 36 x 36 in

Today, Snyk works across two primary artistic modes: abstract oil painting with cold wax and mixed media incorporating elements of photography. Her early experiments in mixed media were born from practicality. In her photography days, she used self-portraits, because, from her modeling days, she recognized the often tedious process of testing lighting setups and didn’t want to make someone else wait for long periods. These self-portrait images later became the raw material for deeper explorations. Over time, she began painting and layering wax over these photographs, creating works that examine identity through a lens of both exposure and erasure.

Her latest project, the Royalty series, reimagines historical portraiture through abstraction. Inspired by old master paintings of kings and queens, the series deconstructs traditional notions of power and presence. In The King’s Court, which was recently selected for V&A Magazine’s summer issue, form and muted color converge to evoke a sense of reverence and complexity while intentionally avoiding specific representations of actual royal figures.

While her palette favors earthy tones and matte finishes, her process is anything but minimal. She paints primarily on wood panels, appreciating their strength and durability as a foundation for layering. Her pieces are built slowly, using pressure, scraping and texture to construct visual and conceptual depth.

Light, cold wax and oil painting on wood, 16 x 20 in

Balancing a demanding tech career with a growing art practice hasn’t always been easy. Snyk describes the work in cybersecurity as intense, often requiring her full mental bandwidth. Art became a necessary space for emotional release, an area of her life that didn’t demand problem-solving but allowed for reflection and instinct. What began as a form of experimentation has become a deeply rooted creative practice.

Her sources of inspiration are eclectic. They include Pinterest boards, gravestone carvings, the shape of seaweed under lake water, and even the subtle expressions of animals. Sometimes, it’s the form that speaks to her, and other times it’s an emotion or a moment of memory. One of her photography works, Elite Snobs, started as a self-portrait. Through layers of paint and wax, it evolved into a meditation on perception, status and the emotional distance that often accompanies exclusivity. 

“It’s important for everybody to find their voice,” Snyk says. For her, that means making art for expression, not expectation. Just like she’s careful about when and how she shares her work, she’s equally thoughtful about how she creates it. Whenever she starts a new concept, she commits to completing at least three pieces before moving on. This rule helps her explore each theme thoroughly and understand whether it offers more. She plans to create five or six pieces with the Royalty series before shifting gears.

For Snyk, making art goes against the illusion that creativity should come easily. Sometimes, making art is about persisting until you find the true meaning of your work. “There’s a fine balance,” she reflects. “Yes, it’s expressing yourself, but it’s also about asking: Are you saying what you really want to say?”

To learn more about Loren Snyk, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram @lorensnyk.