Sylvia B.Teri lives and works in San Casciano V.P., Italy.

 

She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, USA, and has  studied painting and etching in Florence at the Academy of Fine Arts, The Art Institute of Florence and Il Bisonte International School of Graphic Art. Sylvia has participated in personal and collective shows in the United States, Italy, Austria, Spain and Korea.

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“. . . the theme that has prevalently occupied her (Sylvia Teri), .. . is the human body, it’s weight, it’s substance and meaning – direct and symbolic. The oscillations in the perception and the treatment of this subject range from an initial anatomical realism, to a decisive abstraction, to the recovery of a free, elusive figuration that is much more than skeletal.”  - Mario Luzi​, Italian poet​.

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“. . . elaborations of planes and forms . . .space is dilated or again restrained . . .a sort of form-color . . .  always harmonious in it’s pure chromatic timbre. . . “ – Antonio Parronchi

 

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Painting has always played a vital part in my life. As a young student, the art room was my haven and elective courses in applied art and art history were always essential. However, not until I moved to Florence, where every street is a page from an art history text, did painting become a priority. I sought advanced instruction and was fortunate to find inspiration from valid professors whose encouragement reinforced my work.

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Always curious, ready to explore new techniques, I began to experiment with a variety of materials often creating new combinations suitable to express my ideas. In recent years my interest has been focused on the human body, its forms,  its meaning. Influenced by my family who work in the fields of construction and engineering, I slowly began to consider the human body also as a perfect structure with proportions, measurements, and weights, similar to an architectural structure.  I began to confront the composition of the human body with that of a civic building,. . . muscle and bone, tissue and lymph vs.cement and steel, plaster and glue... sinuous vs. straight lines.  In a sort of symbiosis, the human body dwells within the architectural space, gives it breath and vitality.  It is the tracing of a gesture that measures space and, by measuring it, space is built and the energy emitted by each one of us brings space to life.

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Calligraphic elements, technical drawings, formulas and measurements  have gradually found  their place in my paintings creating a setting, a dwelling place f..for my figures.