ABOUT
Surrounded by drugs, alcohol, crime and violence, creating art was more than an amusing diversion; it was a means of survival.
Raised by a single mother after his family left his abusive alcoholic father, Sylvain Louis-Seize endured a childhood that was both arduous and frightening at times. “My mother did the best she could, but we got by primarily through the Canadian welfare system,” he reveals. The ability to produce art was Sylvain’s refuge and saving grace. “Looking back, creating art was the only way I was able to navigate through the challenges I was experiencing at home,” he reflects. “Art offered me an outlet for my emotions – emotions I could not rationally process or explain verbally. It became my coping mechanism.” These early works encapsulated and helped to ease his feelings of anger, frustration and physical hunger.
Surrounded by drugs, alcohol, crime and violence, creating art was more than an amusing diversion; it was a means of survival.
Raised by a single mother after his family left his abusive alcoholic father, Sylvain Louis-Seize endured a childhood that was both arduous and frightening at times. “My mother did the best she could, but we got by primarily through the Canadian welfare system,” he reveals. The ability to produce art was Sylvain’s refuge and saving grace. “Looking back, creating art was the only way I was able to navigate through the challenges I was experiencing at home,” he reflects. “Art offered me an outlet for my emotions – emotions I could not rationally process or explain verbally. It became my coping mechanism.” These early works encapsulated and helped to ease his feelings of anger, frustration and physical hunger. The ability to produce art was Sylvain’s refuge and saving grace. “Looking back, creating art was the only way I was able to navigate through the challenges I was experiencing at home,” he reflects. “Art offered me an outlet for my emotions – emotions I could not rationally process or explain verbally. It became my coping mechanism.” These early works encapsulated and helped to ease his feelings of anger, frustration and physical hunger.
"Lines can take you on a straight path. The curving lines are rivers that change, sinuous paths that you follow. Dots are instant moments in your life that are important and cast a shadow on the rest of your life. There are layers and layers of experience that make up who you are."
I grew up in the 1980s and the graffiti world was very strong. I was in a band and we used that in our band logo – the paintings I am doing right now…
the bright colours are there to attract you. The darker, shaded colours represent darker aspects of us; and grey and air brushing is where we live most of the time. It’s not always clear. Lines can take you on a straight path. The curving lines are rivers that change, sinuous paths that you follow. Dots are instant moments in your life that are important and cast a shadow on the rest of your life. There are layers and layers of experience that make up who you are.
I grew up in the 1980s and the graffiti world was very strong. I was in a band and we used that in our band logo – the paintings I am doing right now…
the bright colours are there to attract you. The darker, shaded colours represent darker aspects of us; and grey and air brushing is where we live most of the time. It’s not always clear. Lines can take you on a straight path. The curving lines are rivers that change, sinuous paths that you follow. Dots are instant moments in your life that are important and cast a shadow on the rest of your life. There are layers and layers of experience that make up who you are.