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ABOUT SIDNEY
Sidney Sparkle is a queer mixed media artist based in Nashville, Tennessee. But first, a Q&A with Sidney…
“Q: Where are you from?
A: All over the globe, darling! I moved to Nashville from Chicago. Prior to that, I lived in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri.
Q: Preferred mediums?
A: Those include Polaroid photography, collage, illustration, performance, and augmented reality (AR).
Q: Preferred pronouns?
A: Call me anything. Or most easily, you can call me a lady!”
Since joining Daybreak Arts in August 2022 as a photographer, Sidney Sparkle (nee John Dyson) began to explore new mediums as a way to cope with the changes they felt when moving to Nashville. Building on a new branch of inspiration being around different mediums at the Daybreak studio, Sidney molded their love of abstract illustration into groovy Polaroid collage manifestations. “Each one is grander than the last!” exclaims Sidney.
Each piece evolves out of zero intention of outcome. They keep their work abstract until they find something when in the printing/plotting phase. “It’s all about bringing the analog to digital, then back to analog again,” says Sidney. “I don’t draw with any intention except to pass the time or cool off after a stressful day. If I see something that makes me chuckle, I will run with it. If I don’t, I delete and move on. The music producer Gustaf Karlöf talks about the importance of editing your work, which also has to apply to my practice. As a result, I do not keep pieces that I lose interest in, because I have to pack them up to move once again. I have relocated so much because of my housing situation that I had to make all my practices as portable as possible, and if a piece doesn’t move me, it’s not going to motivate me to keep it for exhibition or sale. I only put out my very best. Yes, I am ‘that’ Virgo!” laughs Sidney.
Virgos are also visionaries when it comes to the viewing of the piece in a gallery or formal showing. “Installing is just as important as the piece itself. It doesn’t have to go on a white wall, and it can sometimes be held by the viewer. Some pieces are more interactive than others. This can bridge the viewer closer to the artist via the piece. When people have more say in how they interact the piece, there is more engagement with a more informed conversation about each piece,” says Sidney.
“When I start to plot the piece, I might see living beings in these abstract illustrations. I love to add googly eyes because it instantly personifies the piece. It lets the viewer know that there is something there, so you have to use your imagination to find it. I merely use the googly eyes as a guideline for the viewer to find a connection to the title or the form I see. I do not take my work as political or religious. It is merely something you like or dislike. Any meaning you add is up to you. You can find meaning with the work via the googly eyes, or you can make your own. All this I do in a more playful way. If it’s not fun, it’s not art.”