(Across the River, mixed media on panel, 30″ x 30″ by Sylvia Avenius-Ford)
Sylvia Avenius-Ford, one of 30 member-creatives at the Artists’ Gallery Sunriver, is a mixed-media painter who produces brilliant works of intense color and vibrant finish. Acrylic paint is her primary medium to which she adds fabric paint for impasto mark-making drawn directly from the tube, the effect of which bears kinship to stained glass or mosaic. Sylvia’s primary subject matter is a whimsical nature often inhabited by people and animals, sometimes in repose, sometimes in the midst of activity. Inspiration for her imagery stems from her storybook past, one heavily influenced by the stunning art, craft and textiles of people native to the many places she has lived.
Sylvia grew up in multiple countries, including Venezuela, Peru and Nigeria. Her dad worked for an oil company, and it wasn’t until the age of 15 that she set foot in the United States. At ten years old, Sylvia and her family had to be evacuated from Nigeria due to the civil war that raged there from 1967-1970, a war that claimed the lives of over a million people (blackpast.org). “Our family sought refuge in France, and once it was safe, we returned to Nigeria despite having lost everything we owned,” the artist remembers. Her memories of this nation aren’t all tainted by war, however. Sylvia fondly recalls its market places in Lagos and Port Harcourt teeming with life. The competing smells of delicious food and unmanaged waste, the heat of the air, the sounds of people and animals, strange visuals like monkey paws reserved for black magic, all bombarded her senses in every which way. “There is a feeling of aliveness in such places that stems from the intensity of the information out there,” she explains. “It’s a richly textured life.”
Texture, in fact, is one of the terms Sylvia most uses to describe her art, both in terms of its inspiration and of the layered meanings she hopes the viewer will derive from it. Although primarily associated with touch, texture can also refer to “the character of a piece of writing or music” (dictionary.cambridge.org). With respect to music, texture describes “a feature of the way it sounds, based on how the different instruments mix their parts and the speed at which they play” (ibid). Considered broadly as the character of something, our definition of texture extends to include the input derived from all our senses with respect to a given subject that results in an experience or a feeling for that person, place or thing, one filtered through memory over time. It is this experiential quality drawn from a multitude of influences that Avenius-Ford wishes to convey in her art.
Take, for example, Best of Companions, a painting that features a woman with outstretched arms tending her laundry on a clothesline and accompanied by her black dog and numerous birds, some of which appear to be woven into the hanging fabric itself while others are clearly independent of the fabric. A dark blue sky of receding clouds slowly transitions into a distant turquoise as it meets the sea. What are the various textures woven into this image, you may wonder? One prominent element of that texture is the activity of hanging clothes outside to dry, a narrative that many can relate to, especially those of a certain age or without the means or desire for a dryer. Through time spent enjoying this image, one might experience a slight breeze as the wind ruffles the sheets, and if out on the ocean as this woman appears to be, the smell and taste particular to ocean air. The visiting birds call to mind another narrative, that of St. Francis, Patron Saint of Animals, who was often depicted in the company of birds. The companionship of a pet, as the painting’s title suggests, evokes yet another layer of meaning, especially for those who have owned dogs, “[hu]man’s best friend,” as the saying goes. Perhaps this painting represents a personal tribute on behalf of the artist to the family dog that was left behind during their flight from Nigeria. The painting’s bright colors suggest joy and ease while the patterning and outlining reflect an interest in the decorative and folk arts. Such is the intensity of information Avenius-Ford packs into a single image, and as with all art, it is up to the viewer to extract it.
Despite the sophistication inherent in generating such a multivalent art, Sylvia humbly asserts, “I do not take my art too seriously. It’s fun art not fine art.” Her 20 years of teaching three to 11-year-olds, with their playful attitudes and willingness to experiment, certainly influenced this approach. “I never went to art school,” Sylvia reveals, “so I don’t adhere to any particular rules. I just go with the feeling, my intuition, and some things work and some things don’t. If I have a story to start with, those are the paintings that typically work for me. Today, for example, I saw a woman at her mailbox and it struck me, this very intimate moment, something we all do. I know that image will end up in a painting somewhere, perhaps combined with other images I hold in my mind.”
Recollections of her past, near and distant, provide Sylvia’s art with a springboard for recollections of related moments on behalf of the viewer. In Imminent Kerfuffle, the painter presents a memory from San Antonio, Texas. There she observed dogs “always looking up in trees, trees full of feral cats. Clearly, something is about to happen,” a fact known to all except, perhaps, the two cats peacefully resting on the lowest branch. This feeling of suspended time before something breaks loose is one we’ve all experienced, and Sylvia provides a humorous rendition of that feeling here.
Whether an inspiring landscape, a relatable experience or a simple moment shared, Sylvia Avenius-Ford creates an art accessible to all, one that makes us smile and, if we believe no one looking, dare to touch its shiny, textured surface! As Sylvia herself has stated, “The highest compliments I have received are when viewers tell me my creations make them happy and when children approach with outstretched hands to touch a piece — something they are welcome to do.”
Experience the fun art of Sylvia Avenius-Ford at the Artists’ Gallery Sunriver and online at avenius-ford.com.