Sydney Theatre Company is delighted to present the work of performance artist and creator Skye Saxon, through Studio A, generously supported by STC Board Member Anita Belgiorno-Nettis AM. Skye’s work focuses on dreams, memories and metaphysical worlds; across mediums, Skye explores themes of divinity, magical practice and cosmology. Skye works out of Studio A, a Sydney-based arts studio that provides creative and professional support for artists with intellectual disability.
Skye’s piece Seven Cosmic Sunsets was inspired by the themes and narrative structure of Constellations, and is a part of a larger Cosmos series. Constellations follows the relationship of Marianne (Catherine Văn Davies) and Roland (Johnny Carr) in all its possible iterations, a story that mirrors the alternative universes that Skye sees in her mind and acknowledges in her work. As part of her creative process, Skye met with director Ian Michael to discuss the play and its themes. Their discussion of existence and the universe resonated with Skye’s concept of time, with her saying of the experience “I think it’s possible to have multiple paths going at once. In my dreams I see the paths criss-crossing... I actually think many people have experienced realities over and over, but I think they mistake it for a dream.”
The concept for Seven Cosmic Sunsets is drawn from Skye’s visions of the cosmos as she sees them in her mind’s eye. One key aspect of Seven Cosmic Sunsets is the use of light. Light is a motif that Skye has used in her previous works, specifically her Starburst series, where she experimented with photographing ultraviolet lamps. Another concept that has appeared in Skye’s previous work and is repeated throughout this piece is ‘magical scribble gum writing’ — which typographically nods to the writing and re-writing of Roland and Marianne's story and exaggerates the otherworldly qualities of the story. This artistic method is something that Skye has been doing since she was a child. “It comes from deep in my brain... In this work, the magical scribble gum writing holds the secret recipes of Marianne and Roland’s story.”
This work invites you not only to enter Skye’s mind but to readjust your own vision. Intended to be viewed as both connected and separate, the “giant space maps” are made up of “criss-crossing paths and universes. They each have their own sun. Each sun is similar, but has different colours… It’s infinite.” Another marker of Skye’s work is the use of circles and protractors . “Circles for me are like modes of transport. You can jump into one, start rolling really fast, and slip slide into a new reality,” Skye explains. “The protractor is like a cave to another world, it’s like a backdoor you can take from a nightmare to somewhere nicer.” She invites you to lose yourself in the forms, which “connect like spiderwebs to dreams and alternate realities,” with faith that “there is always a way to find your way back.”
Sydney Theatre Company thanks Skye Saxon, Studio A, and Anita Belgiorno-Nettis AM for facilitating this work.
ABOUT SKYE SAXON
Skye is a performance artist and creator of mystic characters, drawings and stories with a magical capacity for manifesting the intangible. Through paper, glass, textiles, video and digital media, Skye explores themes of divinity, magical practice and cosmology. Dreams, memories and metaphysical worlds form the substance of Skye’s work.
Skye has exhibited widely at Carriageworks, Bundanon, Cement Fondu, Cementa Festival, Underbelly Arts Festival and Kinokuniya. In 2022, her work was exhibited in ‘From impulse to action’, the inaugural exhibition of the new Bundanon Art Museum. In 2021, her work was featured in Carriageworks’ ‘No Show’, a survey of NSW-based early career artists working out of artist-led initiatives.
ABOUT STUDIO A
Studio A was launched in 2016 and is a supported studio based in Sydney that tackles the barriers artists with intellectual disability face in accessing conventional education, professional development pathways and opportunities needed to be successful artists. Studio A provides its artists with a working studio space, support staff and an annual exhibition program, paving professional pathways so they can achieve their artistic and economic aspirations. Through their work, Studio A offers the mainstream arts sector access to new artists and new opportunities for unique collaborations.