Lucy Lacoste Gallery is pleased to present Love You To Death, April 1-29 2023, with the twin sister duo of Sydnie and Haylie Jimenez; centered around the representation of black and brown youth as well as self-expression as a form of storytelling and power within art and community. Additionally, their work is heavily informed by their relationship as twins. Love You To Death effectively embodies the emotional experiences and trends of today’s youth as well as ideas of chosen family, life-long friendships, and surrounding yourself with ones you love.
Sydnie Jimenez has been showing with Lucy Lacoste since 2020, including her very well received solo in 2021 and participation in multiple group exhibitions here. It is her first time showing here with her sister Haylie. This exhibition speaks to the importance of relationship as seen through the eyes of these identical twins. The infinite care and trust they have built with each other becomes the basis for shaping and forming countless other relationships. Because of the many shared experiences, their art can be collaborative and parallel.
Sydnie and Haylie are a force to be reckoned with as their combined voices scroll through narratives of self-expression, identity, love, fashion, body, attitude, revolution, and LGBTQ+ identities. The subjects of their collaborative work are inspired by the essence of both sisterhood and their surroundings. We see their artistic abilities merge in the sculptures I Love Country Boys and Black Bikini with Haylie doing the tattoos on figures made and painted by Sydnie.
Born of a white mother and a Dominican father, Sydnie and Haylie’s art comes from the reflection on what it is like to grow up mixed race in a European centered culture. Above all, their work is about attitude. With the rebellious, suspicious nature of their figures the duo shows the ‘tough,’ ‘angry’ or ‘bitchy’ demeanors that black and brown femmes take on or are projected onto as a defense mechanism, as well as the radical joy and the deep sadness that permeates their experiences.
Sydnie’s ceramic figures as a collection, form a community of characters that interact with the style, joy, and sadness each member represents. She continues to draw inspiration from her childhood in north Georgia. While each of her ceramic figures is a unique personification, they also relate as though part of the same community into which we view the members poignant experiences of what it is like to be a person of color in a white dominated culture.
Haylie, primarily a 2-D artist expressing herself through paintings and drawings, is now moving toward a drawing and painting practice on ceramics. Her work in this exhibition is a series of drawings on glazed ceramic tiles or paper which are snapshots of memories with friends. The scenes she creates within her work are ones of endearment. Haylie writes, “Finding BIPOC Queer community in Chicago and long-lasting relationships with friends and family in Georgia was and is a pivotal influence for my work, which surrounds the importance of belonging, collective care, self-expression, and moving through hardships totimes of joy together within these communities.”
Sydnie and Haylie Jimenez were born in Orlando, FL (1997) and raised in rural north Georgia. Sydnie graduated from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 2020) focusing on ceramic sculpture and is a recipient of the Windgate Fellowship (2020). Haylie also attended SAIC (BFA 2020). The two sisters are currently working out of the Archie Bray in Helena, MT.
Show Statement by Sydnie and Haylie Jimenez:
Our relationship as twins has heavily informed the way we build and maintain close relationships with important people in our lives. Ultimately, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with being blood relatives with said people. In our exhibition Love You To Death we want to showcase this aspect of our lives, and how things like infinite care and the trust we’ve built with one another has helped shape and form countless other relationships.
Naturally our art can be collaborative because of our countless shared experiences, influences, and shared values. It’s always a pleasure to show together and express this to others.
The versatility and unpredictability of clay sort of mirrors this sentiment of unconditional love and the struggle that comes with it. Paired with drawings on paper which are inherently ephemeral (as they will not last forever), ceramics and drawing work to form these physically and spiritually collaborative works and ideas in Love You to Death.
The term "love you to death" is a southern saying that implies conflict or imperfections within long lasting, loving, and caring relationships, as the phrase is usually followed with a "but" statement, that often illustrates a scenario of confrontation and directness around a certain subject. This aspect of creating and maintaining long lasting relationships is super important to us. Finding community where love and care is upheld is a necessity for us and often other folks that identify with intersecting marginalized identities such as queer, trans, and black/brown folks.
Show Catalogue