Sokyo Gallery is pleased to present Sylvie Auvray's solo exhibition, “Paper Cuts.”
This exhibition, her second in four years since her last 2021 solo show, will feature 70 new works, including masks created from paper painted in oil, drawings, plaster and fabric works produced in Italy, and earlier ceramic pieces made in Shigaraki that inspired the paper cuts.
Born in Paris, France, where she continues to live and work, Sylvie Auvray began drawing in her teenage years. Over time, her practice has expanded across a wide range of media, including printmaking, fashion, painting, sculpture, and ceramics. Drawing and painting inspiration from everyday objects encountered in the places she travels—tools used in daily life, as well as materials such as beautiful fabrics and plastics, old toys, and other items discovered at flea markets or while walking through the city—Auvray transforms these sources into a distinctive visual language, projecting her singular worldview into her work.
This exhibition presents Auvray’s latest works using paper alongside earlier pieces that served as sources of inspiration for these new creations. Some of these painted papers are then transformed into figures: masks—a recurring theme in Auvray’s practice, also present in her ceramic works—or animals drawn from Japanese folk culture (rabbit, pig, horse, mouse). The motifs painted on paper further develop ideas explored in two earlier exhibitions: her solo exhibition at Martina Simeti in Milan, and ‘Sylvie & Umetsu. La maison hantée?’ a joint exhibition with Yoichi Umetsu held at Sokyo Gallery in 2024. Both exhibitions focused on graphic and textile-based themes.
Inspired by textiles encountered during her travels and at flea markets, Auvray creates drawings and oil paintings on paper. She freely interprets the original patterns, at times departing significantly from them as she develops her own distinctive forms of expression. Portions of these painted papers are transformed into masks representing human figures, while the motif of the mask—one that recurs throughout Auvray’s practice—also appears in her ceramic works. She has also created masks featuring animals familiar in Japanese popular culture, such as rabbits, horses, pigs, and mice.
The mask works are suspended on the wall with delicate threads, evoking the presence of jewelry or adornment. The inherent fragility of paper lends the works a particular emotional sensitivity, and from their painted surfaces, figures seem to emerge candidly, almost improvisationally.
These works are exhibited alongside early plaster pieces produced in Italy, also inspired by textile patterns, as well as ceramic works created in Shigaraki, Japan.
We sincerely invite you to take this opportunity to view the exhibition.
