Contemporary Artists of Chicago: Ginny Sykes

I had long wanted to meet with Ginny Sykes. And today was the day! Ginny is a painter and a muralist with many public commissions and installations.

I came to know the name Ginny Sykes, when reading about her mural titled "Rora," at Erie Terraces, Chicago. It must have been two years back. Since then I had wished to meet her, and today, on one of the most windy days, I could make it to her Sykes Studio. We had a very informal talk about the art scene in Chicago, musing about the contemporary issues like Art Loop Open and the Bernard William controversy, to art scene in Chicago about 30 years back, when Chicago already had established a strong tradition of Public Art. To me, it's always interesting to learn how close-knit the artist community is and they all seem know each other. Me, being an outsider, endeavour to learn about the artists behind Public Art installations and through my blog, bring out their faces to the world outside of the so called artist-community.

Coming back to the mural "Rora", it was commissioned by the City of Chicago’s Percent for Art Program, to express historical, geographic and cultural ideas about the Chicago River. Unfortunately I have not yet seen it, and will bring the photos as soon as I do.. However here's a link that shows Rora, click here..

Most of her work is inspired by nature. Recently Ginny Sykes with Augustina Droze, completed mural named "Arc of Nature" at Bartlett Ravine.. A very beautiful piece, which again, I have yet to see..

It was a small meeting, but I got a glimpse of the wonderful art that she creates and shares with the world. And I promise that very soon I will bring images of her public installations. Meanwhile here's a glimpse of her beautiful paintings..





"Release", 1987..
While her public installations are largely on nature-based themes, her more private paintings are on themes of feminism.
As Joanna Gardner Huggett, Associate Professor of Art History at Depaul University writes Sykes's own experience as a mother as seen in an earlier charcoal drawing "Release", 1987, where a woman's long arms grasp the body of an infant ready to embark on her own journey. The mother's guiding movements in the water at once reveals her wish to retain this intimate bond with her child, but also grant her daughter's wish to swim on her own.. But her recent paintings are more abstract and does not fall into gender specific interpretations..











A temporary exhibit at the Magnificient Mile..
Calming/Calling/Cooling
By Ginny Sykes
Medium: Refrigerator, unknown manufacturer, 1960's.
As a part of "Refrigerator Art" at the Magnificient Mile, 2010..
A temporary exhibit [Aug 02 - Sep 15, 2010] with 9 sculptures are on display..





Two small-scale wall installations in her studio..



Ginny Sykes's Public installations..
- Healing Garden Mosaics - Evanston
- On the Wings of Water - O'Hare Airport
- Rora - Erie Terrace, Chicago
- Arc of Nature [collaboration with Augustina Droze]] - Bartlett Ravine, Fort Sheridan
- Layers of History, Layers of Meaning [collaboration with Corinne D Peterson] at Latin School..

Here's a poem, penned by Ginny Sykes..
Divided Beauty..
When Madonna was born
She howled for the injustice of it all
Named to a name she herself
couldn't fully claim
A name that kept her young
forever
But she aged,
as we all must do,
she became unhinged.
Separated from her
God-given role
she rejoined herself,
looked in the mirror and saw,
Divided Beauty.
Then came the work.
- Ginny Sykes,
August 2008..
"Divided Beauty" was the theme of Ginny Sykes exhibition in the year, 2008..