Born in Philadelphia, Toni Silber-Delerive came of age in a city steeped in history and art. Her creative path began with a BFA in painting from the Philadelphia College of Art, followed by an MA in art education from Kean College in New Jersey. New York City became another turning point. There, she studied graphic design and silkscreen printing at the School of Visual Arts. These layers of training—traditional and commercial, practical and expressive—helped shape a voice that spans disciplines. Silber-Delerive moves between mediums with ease. But no matter what she’s working on—canvas, print, or digital image—her eye stays sharp, and her approach is steady. She’s not after spectacle. She’s after clarity, balance, and form. She often looks at the world from above, painting cities and buildings from an aerial perspective, drawing attention to patterns that go unnoticed at ground level.
One of Silber-Delerive’s paintings, Jodhpur, India, captures this instinct beautifully. It’s an acrylic on canvas, 36 by 48 inches, inspired by a trip to India. The piece shows the Blue City of Jodhpur from high above. There are no people in sight, but the city feels alive through its architecture and the sharp contrasts of light and shadow.
The painting doesn’t try to document a bustling moment. Instead, it zeroes in on a stillness that lets the viewer take in the place slowly. The rooftops are stacked and layered, softened by blue tones that give the scene a quiet mood. The buildings sit close together, with flat roofs and narrow spaces between them. Shadows stretch across the canvas, hinting at the angle of the sun and the hour of the day. Those shadows don’t just add depth—they guide the eye, creating movement in a scene where nothing is actually in motion.
This isn’t a postcard view of India. There are no landmarks in sight. No famous monuments or obvious visual cues. Silber-Delerive’s interest lies more in shape and structure than in narrative. Her view is elevated in every sense. She transforms the real into something between representation and abstraction. Her brushwork is clean and intentional, making it easy to miss just how much care has gone into every corner. The result feels both exact and dreamlike.
Jodhpur, India also speaks to Silber-Delerive’s wider approach. Many of her works come from aerial photographs she takes herself—often from airplanes or helicopters, sometimes from tall buildings or observation decks. These images become her reference points. But she doesn’t treat them as fixed. She shifts colors, edits forms, and rethinks composition. What begins as a snapshot becomes something more measured. A balance between design and sensation.
The absence of people is another recurring thread in her aerial works. That choice pushes the focus onto the spaces we make and how they fit together. Streets become lines. Houses become blocks. Cities become visual puzzles. In Jodhpur, this is especially striking. The uniform color palette gives the city a shared identity. But look closer, and you see each building has its own quirks—shapes jutting out, walls at odd angles, roofs with different features. It’s a portrait of unity and variation.
Silber-Delerive’s background in graphic design comes through clearly in the way she composes space. There’s a sense of restraint in her use of color. She often works in tonal ranges—shades of blue, or beige, or red. This helps keep the eye moving across the surface without distraction. Her color choices are never loud, but they have presence. They carry weight.
And then there’s the question of mood. Despite the formal clarity of the work, there’s emotion here. Maybe it comes from the distance—the way these cities are held at arm’s length. Or maybe it’s the light—the way it slices across the painting and settles on the walls. Either way, Jodhpur, India isn’t just about place. It’s about how space holds memory, and how structure can carry feeling.
Toni Silber-Delerive has built a practice that looks down without looking past. She treats cities like portraits, even when no faces are shown. With a steady hand and a clear vision, she invites viewers to pause, to look again, and to see patterns where they might not have noticed them before.
