Sydney Cain, aka sage stargate, was born and raised in San Francisco. Her multimedia work is largely on paper using dye, graphite, powdered metals, and chalk as emblems of impermanence and transformation. She investigates remembrance, evolution and spirituality from her perspective as a queer Black woman.
Her current work is founded on genealogy research alongside the effects of urban renewal/colonialism and threats against Black afterlives. Cain has exhibited at Betti Ono Gallery, Ashara Ekundayo Gallery, Rena Bransten Gallery, SOMArts, San Francisco Arts Commission, and the African American Arts and Culture Complex.