Artist statement
Yani Silvana’s painting-based practice derives from her interest in architecture. She is drawn to windows, doors and other apertures that transmit or block light, revealing or concealing views and stories. Their often-mysterious reflections create complex layers and distort perceptions. Yani is attracted to geometric shapes, intersecting lines, angles and diagonals, and surprising splashes of colour.
Yani’s ideas usually arise from what she sees around her. She sketches and photographs subjects in the environment, and develops compositions in the studio. Although she experiments with different media, as a painter she works mostly in acrylics. Drawing with pastels allows her to work in a layered, painterly way.
Yani finds it thrilling and satisfying to successfully create the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional surface, but also to create work that hovers on the edge of representation.
Biography
Yani Silvana is a visual artist based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia. In 2022 she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) majoring in painting from the National Art School (NAS) in Sydney. She has previously completed a Graduate Diploma in Arts Administration from UNSW Art & Design.
Yani has been a guide at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and volunteered for numerous art events including the Sydney Biennale and Sydney Contemporary. Prior to commencing the BFA at NAS, she pursued art studies at private art schools, TAFE and university.
Yani’s primary career was in book publishing, where she worked for a number of different companies, both in-house and freelance, as an editor, project manager and product manager. Alongside this career she raised her daughter, mostly alone.
Resumé
PERSONAL DETAILS
Email: yanisilvana@gmail.com
ABN: 16 810 816 825
EDUCATION
2022 NAS Bachelor of Fine Art
2015 UNSW A&D Grad Dip Arts Admin
1999 Griffith University Bachelor of fine art (incomplete)
1996–98 TAFE Qld painting and drawing
EXHIBITIONS
2022 NAS graduate exhibition
1998 TAFE Qld student exhibition
1997 TAFE Qld student exhibition
COLLECTED WORKS
Leadlight 2, 2022, acrylic and ink on paper, private collection
Window 2, 2022, acrylic on wood panel, private collection
Dancer, 1999, acrylic on canvas, private collection
Tamarillos, 1997, acrylic on canvas, private collection
VOLUNTEER ROLES
2017–19 Sydney Contemporary Front-of-house, invigilation, installation
2018–2020 MCA Exhibitions tour guide
2018–2020 Carriageworks Front-of-house, invigilator
2018, 2016, 2008 Sydney Biennale Invigilator, installation/de-installation, artist assistant (Cockatoo Island, Carriageworks)
2018 The Big Anxiety Festival Invigilator
2017–18 UNSW Galleries Invigilator
2017 The Other Arts Fair Front-of-house, ticketing, information
2018–19 Sydney Festival Front-of-house, invigilator
2017 Kaldor Art Project, Anri Sala Front-of-house, invigilator
2016 Art and About Front-of-house
2014–15 Manly Art Gallery Invigilator
2015 Sydney Writers Festival Front-of-house customer service
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2019 Artspace Cultural Mediation in Practice
2017 Kudos Gallery Installation Skills
