PRESS RELEASE

Forests are seen as a metaphor of our mind. Working on substrates of paper, Masonite boards, aluminum and silk, Sylvie Covey portrays various ethereal inhabitants of the forests, where birds personify a fleeting life permeating all around. With her technique of pigments transferring on aluminum, the series Birds Forests capture mystical dances of transformation and rebirth. In the Portraits/Forests series, she identifies herself with the forests, looking directly at the viewer in a series of timeless self-portraits immersed into the woods. Her Abstract Trees series depicts a rendition of watercolor paintings digitally layered with photographs of trees, as if abstracting the trees from reality into a world of invented colors. Through mixed media on Masonite boards, the series Little Big Trees portrays a representation of the human condition, where each tree is a depiction of relentless and continuity, both unique and infinite in their growth and fight for survival. In her Imaginary Forests, Part I, an accumulation of intricated branches are left almost bare, and a variety of bold animals are present, addressing the disappearance of wild habitats for many creatures. The Imaginary Forests, Part II continues to address this disappearance, with mostly birds and a singular ghostly tree, yet each time different. With botanical prints on paper and silk, the series Botanical Prints with Trees collages, Botanical Prints with black & white Birds and Botanical Prints with Color Birds were done to represent the making and natural materials of Forests. Botanical printing triggers a natural chemical reaction of plants loaded with tannin, reacting to iron and other minerals. Instead of using inks, and in order to achieve tint colors of black, blue, green and rust, paper and fabrics were dipped in concoctions of iron water and vinegar, combined with rusted nails. Iron and copper were soaked for weeks in vinegar to trigger the tints, which happens during the steaming process of the substrates. Prior to printing, leaves and vegetation were dipped in natural dyes such as infused turmeric, madder and logwood. Collage and transfer techniques were later used to add the elements of trees and birds.

The artworks for the exhibit Forests were chosen from work produced from 2019 to 2022.