Let the Winds of Heaven Blow Between Us, 2025

Sylvia Reitzema  

Sylvia's practice is rooted in a deep personal enquiry into landscape through drawing, experimentation, and painting en plein air. Her work captures the essence of place—not only its physical terrain but its spiritual, meditative, and energetic presence. Drawing serves as both a starting point and a language through which she explores the metaphysical layers of time and geography.

Working directly in the landscape, she creates observational studies that evolve in the studio into richly layered works. Her process blends instinctive mark-making with intentional material layering, using a wide range of media—from inks, watercolours, and digital tools to oils and mixed media on canvas. These works aim to evoke a sensory and emotional response, offering portals into both outer and inner landscapes.

Alongside her studio practice, Sylvia has exhibited and sold work privately and internationally.

Her awards include the Rootstein Hopkins Drawing Scholarship, the Sculpture Award for the City of Groningen (Netherlands), and prize winner of “Producing Censorship" at the Invisible Dog Arts Centre in New York.

An experienced educator, she also teaches drawing as a multidisciplinary and exploratory process. Her pedagogy encourages experimentation and conceptual development, guiding learners to create work that challenges and expands their artistic language.