Nature Studies

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

Having a background in architecture and music, I am particularly intrigued by the structure, rhythm, lyricism and serendipitous harmonies discoverable in nature. In my photographs, I enjoy focusing on details that are often overlooked, on accidents of light and color and on the surprising impact of small things.

Last year, during my artist residency at the Kala Institute in Berkeley, I was immersed in the interplay between photography and printmaking. I "pushed" my photographs to another level of existence using digital applications (filters, contrast, etc.). In the process, the three-dimensional qualities of the photograph were flattened into two-dimensional shapes and color relationships were simplified. The surprising effect of making the original image more abstract was that the less obvious truths about the subject were revealed. Ironically, the digital prints arrived at through modern technology took on the appearance of prints made using traditional techniques such as woodblocks and silkscreens.

Some time earlier, at the Vermont Studio Center, I had begun printing my photographs on acetate. As a collage artist, I was interested in the layering of images, and thus putting them on a transparent medium seemed logical. It also allowed me to overlay the images on a variety of backgrounds, such as silver and gold foil, which affected the impact of the image.

This year, I was a resident at the Montana Artists Refuge in the tiny town of Basin. Nature is both more subtle and more dramatic in Big Sky country. I decided it was a place to go back to basics - drawing and painting. No computers, no fancy equipment; just oil stick on vellum paper.

Isn't it wonderful to have such a diversity of possibilities! I am grateful to all these residency auspices for the giving me the time and place to be so inspired.

Sara Sill

Above: Hollyhocks.

Additional images may be viewed by clicking here.