For his solo exhibition Behind the Curtains at Artsphere, Sicovecas, with his background as a street artist, presents a series of paintings and installations that reflect on his studio journey translating the life of street art into the quiet of the his home practice by centering on a common household feature: the window.

For Sicovecas, the window is a portal in many senses – it is a place of exchange, of light and shadow, inner and outer worlds – a border and an opening. In this exhibition we see pieces reflecting a culmination of 18 years of contemplating art creation and creating home through art.

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Some works displayed are poignant in their sense of solitude, such as “golden sun bathed in a sleepless dawn” and “shrub symphony”, which through Sic’s use of light and shade draw the audience into his studio as he sits looking out into the movement of the world while he is in the calm, canvas in front of him. In others, the pieces capture the rush of life on the street and the sensory shock of moving between these spaces, such as in “maceeeet” and “(jog)jakarta”.

Perhaps bridging his graffiti most clearly with his studio work are the two paintings “marijan’s neighbor” and “rock & rubble” and installation “aren’t we all the same” that reflect on the bones of houses, abandoned and left to nature, which Sicovecas playfully responds to as an onlooker peering through the window into the worlds of those who came before and what is left behind.

The title “Behind the curtains” itself suggests control. If creating art in the studio is the private act of creating art for the public, Sicovecas is attempting to draw back the curtain to show you the whole process, so come with your iced tea and your neighbours, sit down and become part of it all.

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Written by Harriet Crisp