Cydney Eva is a fifth-year Visual Arts major. She is a hip-hop dancer. She is an artist. She is a feminist. She is Cydeva. She is the creator of the online magazine, Mania Mag. She is Pattern Nation. And she is this week’s campus celebrity.
So, how did Cydney Eva become Cydney Eva?
Cydney grew up in Vancouver and was largely influenced by theatre throughout her childhood. Through her mother – who curated an annual children’s festival, exposing her to art from around the world – Cydney developed a deep appreciation for theatre and visual arts. This prompted her to register for both of these programs at SFU at the beginning of her post-secondary education. Eventually, however, Cydney had to choose between these two disciplines. She decided to pursue the visual arts program, but remained in love with both of these subjects. Thus, she incorporates performance art into her visual arts practice; for example, she once stripped down to her underwear in the bathroom of SFU’s studio and recited Biggie Small’s lyrics while shaving her body.
While developing her voice on both a local and global front, Cydney has developed multiple aliases. While maintaining these names, she says she has to “assume a certain amount of transparency,” and explains how she is upfront about her different aliases, but uses them as a tool to organize her interests and her public images.
Her social media alias, Cydeva, is a combination of her first and second name. Pattern Nation refers to Cydney’s handmade jewelry and wall murals. Cydney says this alias derived from the realization that her art practice can align with what she loves to do. Through this alignment came the creation of the materially unique jewelry along with the more sociopolitical artworks of her murals. These works have been involved in various pop-up shows throughout Vancouver, for which Cydney collaborates with the streetwear company Paper Route. Cydney “fills the walls, [and] Paper Route fills the store.”
Mania Mag is the name of the online magazine that Cydney Eva created and, as the founder, she says, “I am Mania Mag.” The magazine began as assignment for school and then transformed into an entity beyond the sole viewership of her professor. Cydney runs this magazine with the help of a few of her friends and fellow artists. Beyond taking the name of the website as one of her aliases, Cydney views Mania Mag as a platform to discuss various disciplines of the arts, with hopes of bringing these disciplines together. Mania Mag hosts various events that are often free. These events subvert the expectations of an “art event” into something that is different and new for those attending. This brings various individuals together and encourages a re-examination of the art world’s reputation of being uptight.
The use of these multiple aliases work as a metaphor for Cydney’s overall personality. The aliases act as a blatant representation of the multitalented person that Cydney is, but the aliases also reference the change that Cydney hopes to see in the art world.
Cydney considers herself a collaborative artist. She does not, however, see herself as simply an artist who collaborates with other artists, but as a person who collaborates with other people. She uses her multiple platforms to connect different people with one another, and aims to bring attention to the voices that the art world quickly neglects. When asked about her feminist views, Cydney says, “Instead of working within the system, we should probably just start a new one.”
If anyone could redefine what it means to be an artist, it would be Cydney Eva.