Sylvia Ji
"...She achieves this exoticism by injecting an exciting South American feel that is crafted through the use of folk-style skulls and symbols."
Images copyright © Sylvia Ji 2021
Sylvia Ji’s paintings are deeply rooted in cultural and ceremonial aesthetics, appropriated from religious and distinctly regional costumes and imagery.
She achieves this exoticism by injecting an exciting South American feel that is crafted through the use of folk-style skulls and symbols. The flowers and scrollwork symbols are laid over solemn faces that appear as if having been tattooed in place.
This symbolism offers a striking nod to the festival atmosphere at the Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico.
Ji also uses costumes and accessories such as flowers in the hair and veils that demonstrate a significant connection to the dark and surreal self-portraits painted by Frida Kahlo.
Through their uniquely celebratory approach to death and mourning, the Mexican tradition is in opposition to the Western melancholy that is associated with these normally darker parts of life. Ji’s work takes this element and mixes it with figures that express a dour and maudlin mood showing a mix of both Western and South American traditions.