Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Becraft.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Sydney Becraft, and I am a junior illustration major at the Savannah College of Art and Design and originally from Scottsdale, Arizona. My art journey started when I was eleven years old, struggling with anxiety and depression as a young girl and looking for an outlet to express myself. Although I have been drawing my whole life, I found my love for art in the seventh grade as I found that it could be a possible career path later on. From eleven to around sixteen years old, I made it my personal mission to constantly explore new mediums, such as acrylic painting to digital art, to further my knowledge of the art world and find my niche. At seventeen years old, I was offered a wonderful opportunity to travel to Hong Kong through SCAD to work on a design immersion program with GoogleMaps. This was my first huge experience, and really shaped the way I thought about art and all the possible outlets I could fall into in the future. Although seventeen was a year of finding my future career path, it also happened to be one of the hardest years of my life. Unfortunately, I lost my best friend to a car accident during my senior year of high school amongst going through the pandemic a few months later. At this point in time I felt really hopeless but used that pain and grief to create some of the most impactful pieces I have created thus far in my life. These events entirely transformed me into a whole new artist; one who creates art for others to relate to and find comfort in. My light at the end of the tunnel was, of course getting to pursue my dreams here at SCAD and in Savannah. Due to having such a hard end to my teenage years, I was very determined to make one last impactful opportunity in my art career before I turned twenty. Unexpectedly, that life-changing opportunity would be having the chance to create a recycling bin for the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California to promote sustainability when I was nineteen years old. This opportunity was truly the one that changed my life and has given me constant inspiration to keep going with my art career. In addition, my college career has led me to a new sense of purpose in my art, as I found mediums along the way that I love endlessly, such as lithography and relief printmaking. Now, I am an illustration major and printmaking minor, and constantly hungry to find new ways of making art to this day.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As stated previously, I had many obstacles in my way as a young woman. My entire life I have dealt with an anxiety disorder, leading to depression that has caused me some really hard times, especially finding inspiration to create artwork. Unfortunately, my anxiety and depression are something that is constantly fluctuating throughout my life, but the one thing I found that will always be there for me is my art. I have used my art in many different ways throughout my life to heal myself, as a lot of the time, I actually am creating for myself rather than the world around me. As also previously stated, my personal experience with grief has really changed my view on art as well. I found that this is an outlet that I can use to create pieces that resonate with others outside of myself. Although a saddening situation, unfortunately death is a situation that comes with life. By creating paintings and drawings regarding my personal emotions, I have been able to fill that part of me that was once very empty.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My artwork varies from many different styles and wide array of mediums. As an illustration major, my specialty would be creating visual works that tell a narrative. Often in these depictions, I include my signature character of a ghost, a character I am known for amongst my peers. The ghost, to me, is much more than just a sheet with two eye holes cut out; It is a depiction of myself. Due to the troubles I faced throughout my journey, the ghost is a character that encapsulates me as a person who has lost a lot but has been reborn and given a second life. In addition to the ghost emulating my rebirth, it also appeals to the viewer as they can see themselves in the scenario as well, as the ghost is just a being with no gender or physical appearances that convey to a certain category of people. Often in these works, the ghosts are doing very mundane activities like gardening to traveling different parts of the world. I incorporate a lot of traveling in my works as well, as I love to travel and explore new places. What sets me apart from others is my adaptability and versatility in my art. One day I will be painting a giant canvas, then the next I might be creating a sculpture out of clay. For me, art has endless possibilities, and I feel as if it my duty to explore each and every one of them. This mindset helped me a lot in my work I am the most proud of, which is my work created for the Coachella Music and Arts Festival 2022. I was tasked with painting a large recycling bin with imagery depicting the liveliness and energy of the festival. I am also most proud of this work as it promotes a cause I have found a love for in recent years, which is sustainability, as it encouraged festival goers to recycle and reduce their environmental impact.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I am often inspired by many different aspects of life, one main one being music. I find a lot of comfort in music and find myself depicting certain songs in my artwork that resonate to my life very closely. I am heavily inspired by the musical artist Phoebe Bridgers, as she depicts her everyday life in her music, similar how I do my art. A quote I find very inspirational from her is “I’ll find a new place to be from,” as I have picked up my life from the Arizona desert where my heart is and moved across the country to pursue my dreams. In addition to this, a book that has heavily influenced me is “The Hobbit” as it encapsulates some scenarios I have been through. As a person with anxiety and depression, sometimes it’s hard for me to envision going on a great journey or even leave my house on some days. This book helped me a lot as I am too a hobbit but has shown me that going on adventures and pushing myself out of my comfort zone has led me to great opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sbecra20.myportfolio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sydneybecrafty/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sydney-becraft-1170a5244
Image Credits
Charles Hoy
Jenna Schaefer
Samuel Perry
