Today we’d like to introduce you to Sylvia Troconis.
Hi Sylvia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Being curious is a strong trait of my personality. I am very lucky I have always had a strong support system that would encourage and enable me to explore.
As a child, I had very supportive parents that would always let me explore my creativity. They would always enroll me in a class or a course that I wanted to do. From jewelry to paint to pottery to sculpture, they would always, without complaint, make sure I went to each course.
I also grew up in a country where studying art was not a realistic possibility. There is no way to support yourself through the arts, and I was very aware of this. So, I decided to become a lawyer. I liked studying and learning law, but practicing it? Well, let’s say that was different beast.
I came to the USA following a boyfriend and studied fashion merchandising at “The Art Institute of Raleigh Durham”. This was an exciting time. I really did not care about fashion, but I loved all of the design, color theory, drawing, and concept development classes. It was never a secret for me that I love art and I was at my best when I was being creative, but studying fashion merchandising was a structured way to develop myself.
Later I married my absolute soulmate and moved to Austin in 2012. I started exploring color in long planks of wood. During this time, I was also infatuated with stamps and a collection I inherited from my grandfather. After my first son was born, I watched the movie “Interstellar” and I became curious with physics and chemistry, so I found a teacher and started learning about these subjects. I was inspired to develop a series called “Objective Reality” based on what I learned. I am still working on it with a main focus on the spectral lights of elements.
When the pandemic started, I realized how lonely it is to be an artist, so I started doing a collaboration with photographer Lisa Zinna. She takes amazing pictures and I create cut out pieces to bring out the shapes of each photo. Being part of a team is a really enriching process.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There was a lot of uncertainty at the beginning. My husband was here to study and later he got a working visa. That meant that if for any reason he lost his job, we would have to leave the country. Fortunately, his career is thriving and the immigrations paperwork is resolved, so that is a big weight off our shoulders that brought stability to our lives.
My second biggest challenge was having kids. Parents do not like to say this but, here I go… kids are very disruptive. Time is not yours anymore and your needs are not the top priority when you have babies. During the first two years of each of my kids, I did not find the time to be creative. This took a toll on my mental health. I never realized that creating was not only what made me be the best version of myself but also the only thing that separates me from reality. I transport to another world with what I am doing when I am creating something.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My entire process has a recurring theme: To Discover. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be a kid during adulthood; to be a child while keeping our adult skills in reason and understanding; to keep a child’s sense of wonder while being conscious of our own sense of amazement. In all my line of work, I use a theme that interests me, study it, and then develop some of the concepts into my visual proposal. My intention is to amaze viewers and make them curious about a subject, whether it is scientific or historic. My goal is to engage spectators with a concept that leaves them wanting to learn more and spread the word.
I would describe my art as a constructive sculpture with mixed media elements. My pieces are a collection of all the things that I have learned during my life. They reflect my curiosity for whatever comes next while reflecting hours of thoughts of a specific subject.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I want to explore the world and try all types of food and get to know different cultures. However, I am terrified of flying. Also, I do not like pools. I heard somewhere that the sand you feel at the bottom of the pool is really excrement that has disintegrated. I know that chlorine is cleaning the pool and maybe sand is just sand, but I cannot think of anything else when feeling it on my toes.
Contact Info:
- Email: stroconis@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.sylviatroconis.com/
- Instagram: @stroconis
