The Fervent Journey Series, 2022
Acrylic on jute
79” x 121”

Drawing inspiration from the baroque aesthetic and Venetian techniques, Sykes created a series of gestural works on raw jute. While painting she listened to audiobooks about women’s history in Italy—accounts that foregrounded the voice of the female protagonist. The paintings are a metabolized response to the feminist material that she was listening to and the raw jute material she painted on.