Syd Veverka

Syd Veverka is taking the residency opportunity at SPACE to create an entryway to the Oasis that exists in her desires, based on her time spent with her sister and the dreams they’ve discussed since they were kids. The installation will contain three layers: the background layer will be a jungle-patterned mural based on sketches and photos Syd collected of the flora of the island, while beach babes of all shapes, genders and skin tones lounge, hanging in the space between wall and window. On the front window, Syd will paint a portal, the doorway into this world, for all Portland’s winter-clad passersby to yearn to jump into or remember a time they had that bliss.

Syd Veverka is an illustrator and muralist based out of Chicago. You’ll recognize her lumpy, rainbow skin-toned ladies and tropical patterns as common themes in her work. She paints interior and exterior murals commercially as well as a form of street art, focusing on line, color and shape to enhance spaces. In 2019, Veverka published her first book, Things To Do Before A Monday with Chronicle Books; her series of amusing prompts accompanied by drawings is half irresistible mojo-compliments, half feminist instructional art, all in the spirit of influencing optimism and open-mindedness. Veverka is a self-described “mixed bag of creative talents,” and it shows in her genre-bending style that combines illustration histories, interior design and architecture conventions, street art, play, and body positivity. A graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, she is passionate about the environment, bicycles, and repurposing old materials into colorful art.