Meet Sylvie Mayer
Through painting, Sylvie Mayer contemplates grief — from personal to collective, quotidian to altering. The tension between the inevitability of change and the permanence of an image are at the focus of her work. She considers how grief and loss appear in everyday life; the banal can conjure memory, instigate tenderness, and perhaps bridge subjectivities. Recently, she has been considering how anxieties about loss are compounded by the technologies of the contemporary world.
In her latest work, she has been experimenting with techniques and materials new to her practice. Traditionally an oil painter, Sylvie has begun working in flashe vinyl paint - a matte, flat and fast drying pigmented material. This new medium has opened possibility both formally and conceptually. The flatness of the medium relates to her ideas about technology and the speed of drying has allowed her to work more quickly. This has led her to leaving more of the process, drawn and underpainted elements visible in the finished painting.
All Day
Ultimately, we believe it is through daring to take risks that artists can disrupt the status quo and leave a lasting impact on the art world. Our exhibitions, Unbound, Pulp, (open now) and our next call, all explore how to manifest growth in a practice. What’s more, Sylvie’s ability to seek alternative methods of showing her work outside of traditional ways also indicates that she is looking ahead and creatively using new means to mainstream her work. Embracing online platforms is continually exposing artists to new networks.
In Sylvie’s Instagram, we were able to visualize the constant growth in her postings. So in addition to viewing the art submitted to the call, we observe the curation and ability to constantly document work to help establish your place in your own art community. This is something unique and wonderful about posting to the Instagram platform for artists. Submitting to Unbound further celebrates this growth trajectory. We look forward to circling back to Sylvie in later calls to witness the evolution of her work. It is fortunate for us to be able to view work and share it with our community.
Sylvie Mayer is a painter originally from Rhode Island and currently living in Boston. She graduated from the RISD with a BFA in Painting in 2018. Currently, she is an MFA Candidate in Painting at Boston University and a 2023 grant recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation.
Visit Sylvie’s website: sylviemayer.art
Follow her journey on Instagram: @sylvie__mayer
PULP call for art closes March 10, 2024. This virtual exhibition continues to celebratee risk-taking and reinventing what “pop culture” means today. Curated by Lauren Szumita of the new Cantor Gallery at Holy Cross and Marie Craig, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fountain Street Gallery in Boston, we encourage you to Submit to PULP.
Sylvie Mayer
Sylvie’s multichromatic work centers on grief, in the most vibrant of visual playlands from almost completely abstract to figurative and representational, united by color. There is a confidence in her decision making. Her paintings caught our eye in the recent UNBOUND virtual show, curated by us— Juniper Rag Co-Founders Michelle May and Payal Thiffault. Risk-taking is a part of growth for an artist. While each creative maintains their signature style, pushing boundaries within the scope of practice can help you discover new, unique elements and bring personal growth. Traditional methods can be enhanced with new processes or tools that add new possibilities. Sylvie’s work is an example of how to decide to make a change and bring something novel to your process.
When looking at Sylvie’s painting All Day, we consider her style to be maximalism that reimagines still life. This style illustrates a fully story of patterns and objects, brightly colored, shadows and highlights dancing among the haphazard subjects in her still life memorials. From Murphy’s Oil Soap to an overturned crystal dish, each object is there for a reason only the artist knows. The colors further celebrate the abundance, patterns and playful nature of perspectives. Maximalism is surely having more than a moment in contemporary art today. We are seeing this style everywhere and guess that Kehinde Wiley’s portraiture has a lot to do with this trend.
Experimentation and risk-taking in art practice involves pushing boundaries, challenging norms, and venturing into uncharted territories. It requires courage to explore unconventional ideas, techniques, and concepts, often leading to innovation and the creation of something entirely new. Embracing risk can result in breakthroughs, fostering growth, evolution, and the cultivation of a distinctive artistic voice.
Equinox Solstice Walk
