Archive » Arts and Entertainment

Artist Vanessa Greta Sica recently featured at the Alton Mill

March 23, 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield 

 It is an amazing painting, called The Furies. The faces of three women very concentrated and intense: one in the centre is being accosted by the other two with worries and temptations and thoughts she does not want to think. They are all portrayed in red and blue highlights. If we look at it for a while, we can see ourselves in the middle, in a nightmare, longing for release.

The artist of this work, Vanessa Greta Sica, a sweet-faced young woman with beautiful long brown hair, truly a contrast to those she has painted, told the Citizen in a recent telephone interview, “The Furies – I did them first as a drawing. I went through it with a lot of intrusive thoughts. I drew them just to get them on paper – all these angry and invasive thoughts and that’s what I was putting into it.

“It was myself taking in what was coming from these women – kind of alluring – whatever thoughts you’re having into your head, this kind of happened to me. I tried to get it out on to paper and that’s what happens when we’re creating art.” 

Still, a large part of our lives, the pandemic for Vanessa Sica was being at home, not working. An Early Childhood Educator (ECE), she was struggling with her career as opposed to what she wanted to do, which is art, she commented.

Ms. Sica also went on to also say, “I love working with kids; talking to kindergarten kids.”

But she explained that she is introverted. If she doesn’t have time to make art, she is unhappy. During the pandemic, when interaction was all online, she was trying to make a lot of art while she was home.

“I joined Instagram and [suffered from] depression at looking what everyone else was producing, thinking, ‘I can’t do that.’ Art is not a hobby. The art I create is quite personal. I express myself on paper better than I do at words.”

As a member of Headwaters Arts, Ms. Sica was eligible to submit her work for inclusion in last month’s show, Dark to Light. When she noted the theme of the show, she was inspired to turn her drawing of the Furies into a painting.

“And I’m glad I did,” she said. “I used the show to paint it out and I’m glad that show was there to do that.”

Another of Ms. Sica’s extraordinary works, titled Rest, once more delving into her feelings, an unusual juxtaposition of strong colours, is of herself lying in her own backyard, her body cradled by grass and leaves. Not what one might imagine from the straight description, but approached from her bare feet to the shorts she was wearing and on up, barely able to see her face.

Inspiration for the format of the feet in the foreground: “is from Caravaggio’s Mary with dirty feet but it was just to lay down to feel nature again.”

Regarding her ECE job, Ms. Sica can choose what schools she attends.

“I do enjoy going to different places,” she commented, “I find it is helpful for me; I did work as a preschool teacher.”

She only works with children in Kindergarten, noting that, with the amount of work put upon four to six years olds, she feels “there’s a lot of burnout as teachers and children,” adding that even in Kindergarten, children learn about robotics. 

Personally, “I was pretty free as a kid; there’s 10 years between me and my sisters. I’ve always had darker thoughts; I always been drawn to the darker side, in a distinctive style when I do figure paintings and portraits. I use a different line and brush stroke to really bring them to life.”

She completed a Batchelor’s Degree in Art and Art History at the University of Toronto and simultaneously did courses at Sheridan College. For her, the best was a minor in cinema studies.

“My whole life,” she confirmed, “has been sketching. I’ve never stopped. I have all my sketch books from when I was young. For a while, I copied others, doing fairies and celebrities. The more I took art classes, the more I found my own way.”

A brief flirtation with abstract painting did not last long.

She and her partner did a lot of vacationing in Europe, just exploring, and they would love to travel again.

Her ambitions begin with “I legitimately call myself an artist. My vision of the future would be the balance that gets me out in the world and I do enjoy connecting with the youngsters and focus as well on the art.” 

Her joining Headwaters Arts was wanting to get her work out there. Now she is feeling just more confident.

Of the family and friends who love her, how they feel about her art and the attention it is receiving: “They are proud,” she admitted happily.

From her participation in last month’s art show, Ms. Sica received some good feedback on the emotion that people can find from her paintings, and she encourages budding artists with the advice to do the work; copy others.

She said, “That’s how I started. The more you do, you gain your own style. I feel it best to push through; it’s nice to take a break but not for long.

“I would not be able to stop. If I go not painting or drawing for a while, I’m not happy – it’s a therapeutic thing for me. It’s how I stay engaged – it’s like a puzzle figuring how the lines will go and the brush strokes and keeps my own mind engaged.”

She said, “As long as someone is feeling something from viewing my paintings, I feel that’s my idea of success.”

Vanessa Sica’s website is www.vanessgretasica.ca

Readers Comments (0)