This article is my invitation for you to visit an uncommon art show currently at the Arts on Main Gallery in Picton. The Sarah Squared show is a rare opportunity to see challenging paintings by two artists: Sarah Palmer and Sarah Winn.
All kinds of art can be challenging. I recently saw a painting of ferocious fir trees that were not passively sitting in a pretty landscape but aggressively taking it over. This painting challenged me to think of trees as a conquering army. And a few weeks later I saw a portrait of a fox that immediately connected with me. The painting challenged me to recognize an individual of a different species as a confident conscious intelligent being.
Challenging art teaches me to think and feel in a different way. And while I agree that almost any kind of art can be challenging, for me, a challenging painting is usually a figurative painting. Challenging paintings tell stories of interesting people in interesting, sometimes uncomfortable, situations. Challenging paintings engage me. They connect me to other people and give me insights to their character, their feelings and their stories. That is asking a lot from a two-dimensional works of art but challenging art is what good artists do.
Though there are many good artists, shows of challenging art are rare. Many people don’t want to be challenged by art. They want art that comforts, which is understandable given what’s happening in the world today. Other people appreciate challenging art but won’t buy it to hang in their homes. They admire challenging art but keep it at a distance.
Sarah Palmer and Sarah Winn are well aware that not everyone wants challenging art. Winn says: “Some people do like my work. Others, well, it’s an acquired taste. I paint the way I do because it’s from my heart and mind. Painting is how I tell stories and sometimes the stories can be a bit uncomfortable. I’m not everyone’s cup of tea.” Palmer tells of similar reactions to her work: “I participated in an art tour a few weeks ago. When a couple stepped up to see my work, one of them commented on how pretty and whimsical my paintings were. After a few moments looking at my paintings the other person said that my paintings were beautiful and unique but they are not whimsical. They are edgy.”
I have three objectives for this article: to introduce you to Palmer and Winn, to tell you more about the Sarah Squared show, and finally to give you a better idea of the show by discussing two paintings. If you’ve already had enough and aren’t going to continue reading the rest of this article, I encourage you to go to ArtShowInfo.ca for details of the Sarah Squared show and for samples of the art of the two Sarahs.
Sarah Palmer’s paintings illustrate life’s difficult moments using the grotesque characters of German Expressionism tempered by the bright colours and whimsical icons of Latin American Magic Realism. She plans her paintings meticulously but keeps her characters fresh and fluid by basing them on her expressive sketches. The gallery curator at one of her shows noted that “The details in Sarah’s work are outstanding. She paints uncomfortable moments and makes them somehow beautiful. Awesome!” The titles of Sarah’s art suggest some of the uncomfortable situations in her art: Skaters on Thin Ice, Coming Out, Sisyphus, Cuckholded, Living in a Fish Bowl, Dunce Cap.
Sarah Winn is an artistic powerhouse: “I have many projects on the go. I love it like that! I will never lose my passion. My art is my life!” Not only is Sarah a painter and sculptor but she is also involved in the Eastern Ontario theatre scene as a creator of props and costumes, a designer and painter of sets, and occasionally an actor. She is a recipient of the Quinte Arts Council Arts Recognition Award for her dedication to arts and culture in the Quinte region. Palmer describes Winn’s art as gutsy: “Sarah paints directly on to her canvas. She’s bold. Her work is fresh and her paintings prompt an immediate reaction. Her art can be funny but it can also be serious and thought provoking.”
Palmer and Winn use different techniques and have different styles. You can instantly tell if you’re looking at a Palmer piece or a Winn piece. Although their paintings are dramatically different the two artists share the same objective of creating art with meaning.
Before I proceed with a discussion of the Sarah Squared paintings, I will tell you two things you should know about the show itself.
First thing: Studies have shown that visitors to art shows typically spend less than 30 seconds with each work of art. Solo art shows typically have 20 or 30 pieces. This is show by two artists and yet the show has only 14 pieces in total. Seven pieces by each artist. When you visit this show you will be able to spend a few minutes with each painting to unpack their meaning and to engage with their characters and their stories. And you’ll be done in less than half an hour. Unless of course you really engage with some of the paintings or you end up discussing the paintings with other visitors.
Second thing: I realize that when I talk about challenging art I sometimes come across as pretentious and doctrinaire. I want to assure you that the two Sarahs are neither pretentious or doctrinaire. Both artists leaven their art with humour and surprise. For example, in Palmer’s paintings you will find a winged dog, a chorus of tiny naked blue people, and a chubby princess standing on a floating cloud. And Winn always includes some playful art in her shows. For example, I recently attended one of Winn’s shows where she had hung her “serious art” on the walls of the gallery and mounted little plastic toy figurines that she had transformed into alien monsters on plinths scattered around the gallery. In the Sarah Squared show Winn has a painting of unicorns doing something you don’t usually see unicorns doing.
Finally, to give you an idea of what you will see at Sarah Squared here are two of the show’s paintings.
MOTHER AND CHILD IN GARDEN by Sarah Palmer shows a mother holding a child. The mother seems sad. Or is that worry etched into her face. The child seems to be having an uncomfortable sleep. Look at the child’s hands. Is the child sleeping or praying? Look at the mother’s legs. They seem more like bones than legs. And what is the significance of the mother’s exaggerated and bony right hand? The mother and child are sitting in a garden but the setting is claustrophobic. This looks more like an indoor garden than one outside. The garden is decorative. It has no edibles. Is the garden real or is the mother imagining it? What might the garden represent? Happier times? A hopeful future? Like many Palmer paintings this is a puzzle with many alternative solutions.
WAITING IN THE WINGS by Sarah Winn shows an older person, probably a man. He is slightly suspicious of or may be surprised by someone coming into his space. He may be an actor “waiting in the wings” and he may be annoyed that his preparation for his entrance on stage has been interrupted. There is a closet behind him with what looks like fancy women’s dresses. The actor may be in a big production that requires quick off stage costume changes. Or he may be in a small production and he’s sharing a dressing room with the leading lady. Or maybe he’s a Panto Dame and the dresses are his costumes. Or he could be a cross-dressing lawyer who was surprised getting ready to go to court and….I’ll end my speculations here. Like Sarah Palmer, Sarah Winn creates interesting characters who inspire many different stories.
Sarah Squared continues till October 20th at the Arts on Main Gallery in Picton. You are invited to meet with the Sarahs at the Gallery from 2-4 pm on Saturday, September 20th and on Saturday. October 4th from 2-4. Find out more about the Sarahs and their art at artignotum.com and @sarahpalmerartist52.
Written by Anton Dimnik
