about

Bio
Sydney Roland (b. 2004, MA) is an artist based in Chicago, IL. She recently graduated with a BFA in Studio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) with a focus in Fiber Arts and Printmedia. Sydney has shown her work in SAIC's Advanced Fiber & Material Studies display case and SAIC's biannual Undergraduate Exhibition. Sydney has been awarded SAIC’s Honors Scholarship, the Darien Arts Center’s Ginny Wright Scholarship, and is also a three-time recipient of the Darien Community Association’s Path to the Future Scholarship.
Statement
My artwork explores repetition as a soothing mechanism, reframing the “mindless” action as one of introspection and care. Despite the machines that accelerate such processes, my practice hinges on labor-intensive practices like weaving, embroidery, and screenprinting. Employing both visual and tactile iteration, my work utilizes organization and structure to navigate the vastness of the unknown.

As a process-based fiber artist, my chosen materials and processes prove more valuable to me than the final result. I strive to challenge the prevailing notion that the visual is superior to the tactile. My fiber work uses time as a material, uniting loose remnants of forgotten or pre-loved materials into a cohesive assembly. I am constantly referring to my ever-growing collection of textiles, allowing them to tenderly reveal their own final form. The euphoric yet intense processes behind my work involve hours of repeated motions that give these materials time to coalesce and provide solid ground amidst persistent chaos.

Printmaking finds a place in my practice through both physical and visual repetition. I examine everyday household items such as hotel furniture, old socks, and fridge magnets, investigating the potent memories and associations these symbols have acquired over time. Often, my print work references the loss of innocence that occurs alongside this evolution. Whether executed digitally or by hand, the creation of each print brings me closer to understanding these relationships while also facilitating mass dissemination. My fiber and printmaking practices are continuously evolving and intermingling, revealing new connections between recurring visual and tangible motifs.