Sylvia Radford
Born in Thailand, Sylvia grew up in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Following a degree in civil engineering and a masters in transport engineering and planning at Imperial College, University of London, she spent 30 years living and working in South-East Asia, East Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the UK. Following a critical illness, Sylvia retrained in fine arts, and is currently in her second year of the MFA Fine Art Programme at West Dean College, University of Sussex.
Exhibitions
2021
Quay Arts Centre, Isle of Wight
Viking Cruises British Art Prize 2021 virtual exhibition
2022
West Dean College Summer Show
Copeland Gallery, London ‘Any Day Now’
Oxmarket Contemporary Open
D31 Art Prize shortlisted artists virtual exhibition
London Art Club Emerging Artists Summer Show virtual exhibition ‘Tendencies in Painting’
Could you tell us more about your background and how you began creating art?
My personal history is a dual identity, British-Singaporean. I was born and raised in Southeast Asia, but have lived and worked around the world, which has made me continually navigate and negotiate positions of acceptance and belonging. My life changed enormously when I was diagnosed with a critical condition in 2016, after which I began making paintings to negotiate stark emotions of vulnerability, loneliness, and dissociation in dealing with persistent severe health issues.
My father was a passionate amateur photographer, and this sparked my interest in the creative arts from a young age, yet I initially chose to follow a different career path as a civil/highway engineer and urban transport planner. After I got ill I decided to retrain in the creative arts. I undertook a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design followed by a Diploma in Art and Contemporary Craft at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation. I was instinctively drawn to painting; the material of paint, colour and the painted surface. I found a mentor in both John T. Freeman, who taught me the foundations of drawing and traditional oil painting, and in Robert Sosner, who has taught me about the material language of painting. I am currently studying for a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at West Dean.
What does your art aim to say to your viewers?
I aim to present an open narrative where the viewer can find their own story. Whilst my work draws on personal, family images - and to some extent is autobiographical - the way I develop the imagery creates possibilities that are universal rather than purely personal. I introduce ideas concerning the inconsistency of memory, cultural and temporal markers, as well as changing perceptions. I aim to give the viewer potential narratives through an exploration of pictorial space and in the material handling of my chosen medium.
Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your daily routine when working?
I have a studio both at college and at home and work between the two sites. What I do daily varies! Periods of time are filled with planning, for example, mapping out ways of using the imagery and materials, as well as researching other artists to ground my work within different historical contexts. As a painting evolves, new ideas and possibilities emerge. The process is non-linear and often results in me making a series of works around a theme.
My father’s archive of photographs is an important part of the process and is usually my starting point. As the photos are mainly formal or orchestrated portraits, specific moments and chronology are not so important to me in the selection of imagery. I am interested in seeing how I can change those visual ideas, or narratives, or contexts. I choreograph fragments of a personal narrative to both deconstruct and reconstruct my family archive, both as a whole and as singular images.
What is the essential element in your art?
My work is introspective, and my paintings contend with ideas of cultural duality and complex familial relationships. My ideas and material process revolve around a conceptual layering of time, from childhood experiences of navigating unstable and changing positions of self to negotiations of the present state. So, I would say that the essential element in my art is this sense of self, be that depicted naturalistically, abstracted, or both.
In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?
For me, art reflects our society, our culture. Art can encourage people to think, imagine and dream. My hope is that artists can give people the opportunity to reconnect with themselves and the wider world. I try to create space to allow the viewer to be present when engaging in a painting. We live in a fast-moving goal-oriented society where people don’t often have that opportunity to engage in that way.
