This series of paintings and works on paper explores ideas of change and transition. Through the use of symbolism and other visceral imagery, the paintings ride an edge between abstraction and realism. Water, spirals, and spheres are common themes in the paintings, fusing bold color with dynamic compositions. The paintings speak to cycles of death and rebirth, the fluidity of change, and the process by which one thing may evolve into another.
My images in printmaking explore organic patterning in nature, particularly the subject of water and reflections. Using multiple images and collage, I create prints that emphasize the beauty of the natural world, uniting symbols of different cultures with elements of the landscape. Colors and textures are layered together in these images to reveal the depth of change in nature, its grace and fleeting transitional patterns.
The idea of change and process is also reflected in the large charcoal drawings, which are done on long vertical sheets of brown paper. A common material, brown paper, provides great freedom of process and scale. The drawings may be altered by painting or collaging other drawings on them so that a 4-foot piece may expand to become an 8-foot piece.
This body of work is designed to reflect my process and to create an artistic chrysalis for myself through the expression of what I find inspiring. Picasso said “art is magic” and so in like manner this artwork is designed to inspire others and to serve as a reminder of the transitional beauty of our natural world.
Sarah Savidge is an abstract painter, collage artist and printmaker with an extensive background in contemporary art. She received her BFA from Cornell University and afterwards moved to New York City, where she worked for eight years in diverse galleries, museums, and non-profit spaces. Returning to Seattle (via New Mexico) Savidge worked producing events at the Henry Art Gallery, and later was founding the director of Art Detour Seattle, a tour of 150 artist studios in 8 neighbourhoods throughout the city. Her paintings are represented in numerous corporate and private collections in the United States and abroad.