Sylvia Fragoso

The ceramics and drawings of Sylvia Fragoso exude a vitality, sincerity and reverence that reflect the deep care that went into their creation, and the many years that the artist has single-mindedly dedicated to her craft.

Sylvia started making art in her early twenties after joining NIAD. Over the last thirty years she has produced hundreds of clay sculptures: spiritually-inspired monuments that possess a humble beauty and strange power; mysterious clusters with crucifixes atop them that testify to her devout Catholicism, and crumbling towers, some with spiky projections jutting out from their thickly glazed exteriors.

Likewise, her drawings are striking in their originality and conviction, evincing a brilliantly intuitive grasp of color and design. These mesmerizing abstractions and swirling striations – sometimes embedded with religious symbols – pulsate with color and energy, like mosaics that have burst open into hallucinatory vortices.

Sylvia has exhibited globally at numerous galleries and art fairs, and her work resides in many private collections.

// Sylvia’s available work //


exhibition history

Waking, Breathing, Making! organized by Laura Kamian McDermott // NAID Online Exhibition // February 2023

Holiday Gift Guide // “Between Worlds” organized by Joey Enos // NIAD Online Exhibition // December 2022

Making in Color organized by Edwige Charlot // NIAD Online Exhibition // November 2022

Crossover: Cedars of Marin + NIAD // NIAD Gallery Exhibition // November 2022

All That Is Solid Becomes Vapor ,organized by Emily Chao // NIAD Online Exhibition // October 2022

A Stick In The Snow organized by Joanna and Milo Moyer-Battick // NIAD Online Exhibition // October 2022

Follow the String, organized by Emma Spertus, Julio Rodriguez, Felicia Griffin, Dorian Reid, and Kiesha White // MarinMOCA, Novato, CA // October 2022

Living forces, organized by Fernanda Martinez // NIAD Online Exhibition // July 2022

A New Geometry, organized by e bond // NIAD Online Exhibition // July 2022

Color as Energy Field, organized by Chinzalée Sonami // NIAD Online Exhibition // June 2022

Saves Nine, organized by Megan Kiskaddon // NIAD Online Exhibition // May 2022

In Love., organized by Meg Pohlod // NIAD Online Exhibition // May 2022

Luxe, Calme et Volupté, organized by Lou Mo // NIAD Online Exhibition // March 2022

Auctionauts // NIAD Online Exhibition // March 2022

WIN WIN 10 Silent Auction Preview Exhibition // NIAD Gallery Exhibition // February 2022

Voice Inside, organized by Sunila Bajracharya // NIAD Online Exhibition // January 2022

Relics for the Future, curated by Jessica Snow // NIAD Galleries // January 2022

Menagerie on 23rd Street, organized by Prajakti Jayavant // NIAD Windows Exhibition // December 2021

Closing Of The Year // curated by Jean McElvane NIAD Windows 2020

Fiberful // organized By Cynthia Ona Innis NIAD Art Center 2019

Pink Moon, River Walk: Austin Eddy & Sylvia Fragoso // Left Field Gallery Los Osos 2019

Have/Hold // organized by Julia Schwartz NIAD Art Center 2019

CE x CG X NIAD // Minnesota Street Projects San Francisco 2019 

Butterfly, Sugar // organized by Bonanza NIAD Art Center 2019

Hailing From Parts Unknown // organized By Curtis Turner NIAD Art Center 2019 

Pots // Adams And Ollman Portland Oregon 2019

Redefining Contemporary Art // organized by Courtney Eldridge Depot Steamboat Springs 2019

Where They Want To Go // organized by Erin McCluskey Wheeler NIAD Art Center 2019

It’s Complicated // organized by Kathleen King NIAD Art Center 2018

The Genre Leaps // organized by Margaret Tedesco NIAD Art Center 2018

Cyrano // organized By Em Kettner NIAD Art Center 2018

Woven, Mixed, Tied, and Attached: Fiber As Message // organized By Ramekon O’Arwisters NIAD Art Center 2018

Quest: A Collection // organized by Rhea Fontaine NIAD Art Center 2018

 Indeterminate Space // organized by Anthony Piñata NIAD Art Center 2018

Sylvia Fragoso // Good Luck Gallery 2017

The Witnesses // organized by Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker NIAD Art Center 2017

Affinity // organized by Tim Buckwalter Museum of Northern California Art Chico 2017

I Heart TL // organized by David Pagel Claremont Graduate University Claremont 2017

Spring/ Summer Exhibition // organized by Arianne Gelardin PARLOR San Francisco 2017

Sylvia Fragoso // NIAD Art Center 2017

Curious Weave // organized by Ramekon O’Arwisters NIAD Art Center 2016

Cities In Mind // organized by Kathleen King NIAD Art Center 2016

Pillow Fight! // NIAD Art Center 2016

Celebrating A Vision: Art & Disability // San Francisco International Airport Terminal Three 2016

Hold Onto Your Structures : The Ceramics of Sylvia Fragoso // NIAD Art Center 2016

Absence of Deliberate Silence // organized by Lacey Haslam NIAD Art Center 2015

Wrapped Up In You: NIAD’s Quilts // NIAD Art Center 2015

Telling It Slant // organized by Courtney Eldridge Richmond Art Center 2015

Assemble: A NIAD Art Center Project With Nina Zurier // organized by Nina Zurier NIAD Art Center 2015

Making Friends // organized by John Casey NIAD Art Center 2015

Visions et Créations Dissidents Musée de la Création Franche // Bégles 2014

The Wild Bunch // NIAD Art Center 2014

City In Motion // NIAD Art Center 2014

Outsider Art Inside The Beltway // Art Enables Washington DC 2013

Yes To The Dress Pop-Up Shop // organized by Peter Gravener NIAD Art Center 2013

Mud, Honey // NIAD Art Center 2013

Diamond Dogs Pet Supply // NIAD Art Center 2013

You Are Here // organized by Robert Wuilfe NIAD Art Center 2013

Holiday Pop Up Shop And Lounge // NIAD Art Center 2012

..We Can Do It! // Hurwich Library, Alliant University San Francisco 2015

recent press

Nat. Brut: I, Too, Like Purple (May 2017)

Savant Garde: Wisdom Beyond Words: The Art of Sylvia Fragoso (July 2015)

Making Handmade Books Blog: Telling It Slant (July 2015)