SydneySunRay
About the Artist
Sydney Ray was raised in the countryside of Rover, Tennessee. Once she picked up a pencil or a book she never put it down. As a child during the summers, she was in creative environments or taking workshops. Finally, in high school, she realized reading books and painting class, not her AP Chemistry class, gave her bliss. She graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education with a concentration in Painting and Fibers.
She currently is a middle school Visual Arts teacher in Shelbyville, Tennessee. Sydney is a recent graduate from MTSU in the Masters of Liberal Art. She completed her capstone project by studying women's voices in zines and create a zine, The Remains: Celebrating the overlooked Female Artists in Ar History.
She dreams of traveling everywhere.
She is inspired by her travels, the books she reads, the fairy tales from childhood, Japanese street fashion, the female body, and late 19th century/early 20th-century art.
Stories, myths, and fairy-tales fill my head. Fantasy stories, like books, graphic novels, movies, or spoken word, fill my day like that of the sun since I was a child. When I was younger, I thought of stories as a place to fall away into. However, I learned that stories are not just entertainment. Myths are in every culture in every time period. They help explain the universe, the growth into adulthood, and the finding of one’s self. I became interested in stories from the past and how time has them.
My art is guided by stories -old or new, here or there, others’ writing, or my dreams. In addition, my work has been infused by my exploration of Europe. I learned about art history, different cultures, and ancient cities which enhanced my views on the world’s fascinating and changing legends. On a personal level with my art, I place myself into the stories, myths, and fairy-tales by using the female form -to be the heroine. And the dreamy or dark state often reflects how images- dreams- come to my mind in stories. Thus, with my art, I try to communicate my, others’, and the world’s myths.
Artist Statement