Monica Silva (Day 2)

Are you ready for a party? Come join Iris Engine Studio as I partner with Living2Portraits Studios to Celebrate Art with a variety of artists, art, and mediums. Come talk to the artists, purchase their work, see demonstrations, listen to music, and more.

About the Process

My artwork always begins with an idea, feeling, question or image that I can't fully express just using words. Usually it has to simmer for a while in the background, and I'll carry the question with me as I go about daily life. I make sketches with pencil and paper to map out and experiment with composition, for my 2D work as well as performances. I often choreograph my aerial and dance performances in my head while biking to and from work. For oil paintings, I start with thin layers of paint and build them up as the design takes shape. Oil is a slow process for me, and it takes me many days to finish a piece. When I feel I need more looseness and flow, I turn to acrylics. One of my favorite techniques is scratch painting, where I have to move very quickly to scratch a design into wet paint before it dries. I also love block printing for the element of chance and unexpected results that inevitably show up when I carve the block and create the prints. An essential part of my workspace is room to move and floor space. Obviously, if I'm choreographing a performance that requires space, but even when I paint I'm moving around constantly; there's a physical aspect to discovering how the design needs to show up.