About Sylvia
As a child I remember gazing at examples of Op Art in my grandparents’ home in Miami FL. My Uncle Wilfredo Arcay was a Master Serigrapher in Paris for European artists including Victor Vaserely, and Yaacov Agam. I grew up looking at this art, and it is interesting to me how the influences of childhood are working their way back in some of my current work. The color theory of Joseph Albers and the impressionists’ use of color has been an integral part of my art making in all its incarnations.
My current work consists of monotype, which is the background, and charcoal pencil and soft pastel, which is the drawing on top. The monotypes are done with oil based lithography and etching inks on BFK Rives 300 gsm printmaking paper. They are multiple layers of imagery, text, and patterns done with a lithography process, and monotype techniques interspersed with layers of color. The color layers cover with different degrees of translucence or opaqueness, which allows for more layering and creates a rich depth of color and abstract form. In this way I am allowing the piece to emerge through every layer. The process is sometime more accidental or experimental and has the quality of painting even though I am using rollers, brayers, and an etching press. I love the monotype process for its mystery, because when I start a piece, I never know how it will turn out. When I feel that the monotype is complete, then I decide what, if anything I will draw on top. The bird and animal drawings are done with charcoal pencil and pastel and are done from observation, sketches and many photographs. They add a focus to my love of wildlife and nature, and are very much in the present moment.