Sovah Woydak

GAF 2022 Student Leadership Team  Artists Events Installation Views

The Living Locket

STATEMENT:

The Living Locket is a mixed media piece predominantly made using oil paint and clay. It depicts a main figure whose chest gapes open, revealing a tangle of inner anatomy beneath. Within the chest sits a heart which visually registers as both an anatomical heart and that of an open heart-shaped locket with a black and white image inside. I have a tendency to suppress feelings and emotions which is never sustainable and often leads to them festering on the inside with no channel for expression. This piece works to visually explore the idea of feeling something so deeply it consumes you from the inside out. The overall presentation of the piece is meant to convey themes of beauty and love combined with the agony and pain that can come along with expressing or suppressing feelings.

BIO:

Sovah Woydak was born on a small farm nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Her secluded and non-traditional upbringing allowed her to develop a fantastical imagination which grew into a passion for art-making at an early age. Parts of her work still reflect the fantasies of childhood with their surrealist qualities. 

What makes Sovah’s work stand out is its intricacy coupled with her non-conventional use of varied media. Sovah creates captivating imagery by juxtaposing classic oil painting techniques against layered multimedia materials like fabric, cardboard, and metal. She views each work as an opportunity to push the boundaries of how we are taught to use traditional art materials.