Sticking your hand out the window to see if its raining
Sylvia Atwood
July 8 - 26, 2025
AS220 Project Space, Providence RI
Every time I enter my studio, I find myself positioned somewhere in a cycle of control and faith. I might make decisions rooted in self-conscious fear one day and deep trust the next. Choices stack up over time, and my shifting selves collapse into the surface, embedded in whatever beautiful, absurd, and mysterious forms have stuck to me in passing.
In this body of work, vessels of agency—like cars, hands, and birds—steer themselves through a porous and disorienting world from which they are also inextricable. Autonomy and contingency are folded and layered together into a dense image of interlocking forms, t-bone collisions, and dappled transparencies. Natural elements like water and fire play leading roles in these painted realities, blurring the line between actor and phenomenon. Similarly, the paint itself flickers between outcome and agent as I fluctuate in relationship to it.
Interaction and change, pattern and attention, faith and control: spiraling feedback loops such as these fuel the networks that connect us all. This dense web is one I aim to unearth, not understand, as I make daily choices in the absence of certainty.
Pinwheel
Glue, metal leaf, acrylic paint, spray paint, oil pastel, fiber
42" x 22"
2025
Monkey Junction
Oil paint on canvas
5' x 3'
2025
Dropped Forecast
Oil paint, spray paint, blanket, inkjet prints on paper, concrete, plaster
20" x 22"
2025
Contraction of the Road
Oil paint, metal leaf on canvas
4' x 5'
2025
Bread
Oil on canvas
15.5" x 11.5"
2024
Headquarters
Concrete, beads, yarn, cord, found objects
17.5" x 17.5"
2023
Stared at the sun then closed my eyes
Trace monotype, oil pastel on paper
18" x 12"
2024
Bow
Charcoal, oil pastel, colored pencil, acrylic paint on papered wood panel
4' x 4'
2025
Beach day
Trace monotype, oil pastel on paper
19" x 22"
2025
Makeshift Rudder
Oil on wood
20" x 17.5"
2024
Diver
Oil pastel, matte medium on canvas
5.5 x 5.5"
2025
Flag
Glue, acrylic paint, grommets, ribbon, wooden dowel, rope
2' x 4'
2024
Flag
reverse side