Summer 2025 Roundup: Sylvia Plath Summer
- Sydney Smith
- Sep 5
- 4 min read
My heart is aching, if only lightly, for the shortening days and intermittently cooler temps. Alas, these dry hot days are truly the pinnacle of paper maché drying weather, and as a Paper Mache Girlie ™, I rejoice in the relentless desert sun. I think I love all the seasons, but there is something spiritual for me about the Salt Lake Summers.
When I moved to SLC, I began naming my summers. Houston, doggedly hot and humid regardless of the season, made me strangely season-blind. In contrast, Utah’s shifts feel worth savoring– maybe because pop culture names summers, I started doing it too.
2022: Oh Hi Cacti Summer
My first summer truly pursuing art, resulting in my joyous inception collection of over-the-top cactus lamps.
2023: Soft Girl Summer
Luxuriating in slowness and my softening body, feeling the first real stirrings of body acceptance after a lifetime of hating what I saw in the mirror.
2024: Brat Summer
From deep inside a dark well of depression, I grasped and desperately loved the chaotic femme-bot vibes and lime green aesthetic of BRAT. The fleeting joy of a Kamala dream. The burst bubble of faux-feminism dance tracks. Obligatory playlist here.
Which brings us to now: Sylvia Plath Summer
If you’re unfamiliar with Sylvia Plath, she was a poet whose work lingered between beauty and despair, pairing sharp observations with existential ache.
Why Sylvia Plath Summer?
It came to me impulsively in the heat of a Yard Art Day ™ (days when I’m making art in my yard, go figure), and I scrawled the notion on the surface closest at hand.
Perhaps it’s that I associate Plath with existential despair walking hand in hand with the everyday. Her vibe captures the dread that lives between my chest and my gut: the knowledge of the continued genocide my tax dollars pay for, the kidnapping of my neighbors on our streets by masked thugs, the atrocious politics of Utah’s legislature–paired with the basic joy of summer. Yes, this summer is one of duality.
And truly, against the backdrop of our nightmarish reality, this summer is the happiest I’ve felt in a long time. For the past six months, I’ve felt a lightness and playfulness in my art that had eluded me for a while. Add in my friendships, relationships, and home life, and I’ve been blessed with a lot of joy.
A non-exhaustive list of things that have brought me some joy this summer
Material Experimentation
Rose petals (so many rose petals), kombucha scobies, citrus peels, egg shells, dryer lint maché, I could go on. I felt like a kid again: every material felt like a dare.
Studio Guests
The joy of people visiting the studio who get it. This summer, a handful of folks stopped by and left me feeling rejuvenated, connected, and seen.
Resistance Art
It matters to me to make my voice heard, especially in these times. I’ve found community and connection in protest, and in some innocent wheatpasting to liven up the SLC streets.
Diabolical Lies
WOOF yall. If you’re looking for content that helps you understand our current political and cultural climate, while somehow not making you pack rocks into your pockets, give this podcast a try.
Doppelganger
The show I’m preparing for (definitely not scrambling), opening September 19. It’s a collaboration with another artist, Syd Taylor. Over months of exchanging long, irregular notes, we’ve developed the show and reflected each other through our work. Syd was a warm acquaintance, but now she’s become a real collaborator. It’s been joyful getting to know her in this way. Keep an eye out for a longer Doppelganger blog soon.
SLC
After being a steadfast hater of Salt Lake, I decided enough was enough: it was time to love where I lived. Some things really are as simple as deciding, you know. Getting out into the mountains(I’m entering my hiker era, who knew?), getting involved in the community has helped a lot. It’s growing on me big time.
What else is on my plate
Large Panel Commission
Thrilled to be asked for a second commission for a family home in Chicago. The direction: all black, geometric but soft, curving lines instead of sharp corners. Bold, playful, pleasing to the eye.
Back on TikTok
Bless. I do love TikTok.
I've dropped a few recent videos I made for TT below for your viewing pleasure.
Back on that odd-job life
Job hunting has been rough out there, but you know what ChatGPT can’t replace? Elbow grease and hustle. I’ve been repainting houses, managing social media, cutting down trees, patching holes, organizing garages. Can’t complain.
Summer Reading List
For the first time in my LIFE, I’ve turned toward non-fiction (who is she, chat?)
Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Russell Hochschild
Doppelganger, Naomi Klein
Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein
No Logo, Naomi Klein
Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams
About 20 design books from the library, learning how to make things look good
Fiction
Giving The Goldfinch by Donna Tart another shot. The Little Friend is probably my favorite book of all time, but I just haven’t been able to finish this one. Enjoying it much more this go around. Chances of completion are high.
Obligatory Emily Henry read of the summer: Great Big Beautiful Life. I can no longer distinguish any of EH’s books from each other, and there is something very comforting in that
Re-read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
Feel free to drop your recommendations for my fall reading!
Well folks, if this isn’t an exhaustive summary of my summer, I don’t know what is. If you’ve made it this far, you’re a champ, and I truly appreciate you. Blogging on my website is new, and I’d love to keep going, so let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover.
Cheers for now,
Syd
PS - The TikToks I promised
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