Equal parts high-gloss fantasy and dark mortality, Darren Sylvester’s multi-medium practice turns consumer aesthetics inside out. Ahead of Sydney Contemporary 2026, he discusses his upcoming solo exhibition with Neon Parc – a tone poem of identical-yet-wildly-different photographs hot off the grill—and why earnestness takes a backseat to iconic, emotion-spilling imagery.
What first drew you to making art, and how has your practice shifted over the years?
I won a colouring competition at five and been going ever since. Only now it’s getting closer to what I want. It’s only beginning.
Darren Sylvester, Keef, 2024. Courtesy Neon Parc, Melbourne
You jump between staged photography, sculpture, glasswork, and even pop music. How do these different mediums talk to each other?
They build history. Every work is the result of one before it so the practice grows and changes in look, feel and medium. Works talk to previous, offering differing ideas, opposite views. They create a never-ending jigsaw. I do whatever the idea needs to be. I don’t moralise; I present.
Darren Sylvester, Black Birds, 2026. Courtesy Neon Parc, Melbourne
Your work uses the glossy language of consumer culture. How do you map those raw human emotions onto commercial aesthetics?
Darren Sylvester, Bright Eyes, 2026. Courtesy Neon Parc, Melbourne
When people stand in front of your hyper-polished, cinematic scenes, what kind of feeling or realisation are you hoping to spark?
To create unique, iconic images that don’t really function as a traditional photograph of trying to capture a moment, they’re more like a sign, or a tarot. They can be filled with a sense of sincerity, fantasy, tragedy and dark mortality. Up close there’s easter eggs in construction, faults that shine, it’s a hi-end feel to lo-fi construction.
Darren Sylvester, Funny Faces, 2026. Courtesy Neon Parc, Melbourne
What can we look forward to in your presentation with Neon Parc at Sydney Contemporary 2026?
An exhibition of new photographs called Hot Cakes. Like off a grill, they’ll be the same size, pushed in a row, one after another, yet also wildly, completely different to create a tone poem that speaks to aspects of contemporary life.
Darren Sylvester, Turbo Maxx, 2025
Looking ahead, are there particular projects, collaborations, or mediums you’re excited to explore in 2026?
Hell no. This took all year. This is the year.
Sydney Contemporary returns to Carriageworks from 3 – 6 September. Tickets are on sale now.
