Artist Statement

As Above, So Below

As seen through the eyes of satellites, this body of work is a continued exploration of occupied spaces and our relationship to them. 

Reconstructed onto wood panel using mixed media, this collection asks: do these spaces offer a different meaning when viewed from above? To me, this perspective provides the viewer with so much more than a linear street view. There is pattern and texture. There is togetherness and individuality. From this vantage, the fences we build around ourselves disappear. There is a sense of removal from our insular lives as we see the bigger picture, giving a glimpse into what our lives might look like from the eyes of waxwings or crows or magpies that crowd our suburban skies; a community unto themselves.  

Growing up in the suburbs, this body of work is an ode to that time. A time when streetlights were not just lights, but a reminder to head home for the night. When fences were not borders but obstacles to scale and walk along. When photo albums were not in phones, but pasted into books. When phones were not pocket computers but had dials and buttons and cords. Today, we use our devices for everything. Our devices use towers to pull information from satellites in space, and through those, from locations around the world. Do these devices contribute to our insular lives, or do they foster togetherness? The fact remains: without those satellites and a smartphone/pocket computer, this body of work wouldn’t exist. 

Jeff Sylvester, 2023