Unicorns, princesses and castles spring to life with a single brush stroke and the colorful imagination of one artist.
Alumna Sylvia Blaser ‘22, an undergraduate artist at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, has expressed ideas of how womanhood and childhood experiences have influenced her in a way that guides her through her career.
A Hungarian-American artist, Blaser said she draws heavily from central, eastern and western European folklore. Blaser grew up reading and watching Hungarian folklore, and often implements several aspects of her heritage to express nostalgia and childhood memories.
Her paintings portray imagery similar to children’s books: bright colors and patterns flood the page.
“A lot of my art draws on historical tales and context. My folklore inspirations come from real stories that have been passed down through generations,” Blaser said.
Since high school, Blaser has worked with the concept of womanhood. According to Blaser, it was in Elizabeth Brennan’s AP studio art class that she realized her art could be more than just a hobby. Brennan said she remembers Blaser’s dedication and thoughtfulness behind her AP art portfolio.
“Her sustained investigation was about women, and she did some really great work around women in the inequity that we often experience,” Brennan said.
Blaser’s sister, junior Ella Blaser, also noted how her sister focuses primarily on female subjects.
“All of her art that has people in it are women,” Ella Blaser said. “So I think she’s trying to express the beauty behind that.”
In her recent works at Tufts, Blaser said she has shifted to emphasizing universal concepts of beauty rather than taking from her own personal experiences. This way, she said, she hopes her art will resonate with a larger audience.
Blaser said she enjoys the drive to implement new ideas into her pieces and grow with her art. However, the stress of constantly creating has weighed on her recently.
“It’s really hard to throw yourself into something without knowing what the future of that field is going to look like,” Blaser said. “So I have been struggling a lot with the idea of making money from art and continuing to stay inspired.”
When facing these challenges, Blaser keeps a sketchbook nearby so that she can put any ideas down on paper, which she said help shape her creative art.
“There’s this drive to keep updating and innovating your creative practice. And there’s definitely pressure that comes along with that to stay fresh and create new ideas all the time,” Blaser said. “That’s just something that I’ve had to accommodate for and learn how to deal with.”
Blaser said the classes she takes at Tufts have honed her ability to move past difficult hurdles in her work.
“It’s the amazing artists that I’ve been able to talk to, and getting feedback on the art that really helps me push through those moments,” she said.
Overall, Blaser said she finds joy in the artistic process and that celebrating the product is even more rewarding.
“It makes me really happy,” she said. “Seeing the reactions of people when they see my art is really the best feeling in the world to me.”
