Sarah Palmer is a Canadian artist who has had more than 20 shows in western Ontario (London, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo) but if you live in eastern Ontario it is unlikely that you know of her. Toronto separates western Ontario from eastern Ontario and the two regions might as well be separate countries in regards to art.
Sarah works in the style of German Expressionism which presents characters with anxious eyes and exaggerated hands to evoke memories and emotions in the viewer. When I attended one of Sarah’s shows I watched visitors go through three shifts of perception when they viewed her work. First, an initial impression with comments such as “That’s beautiful! I love the colours and the characters.” Second, a closer look with comments such as “I think this is a melancholy painting. The characters don’t seem happy.” Third, a search for meaning with comments such as “What exactly is happening here? What’s the story?” Sarah’s art engages and challenges.
Sarah works in the style of German Expressionism which presents characters with anxious eyes and exaggerated hands to evoke memories and emotions in the viewer. When I attended one of Sarah’s shows I watched visitors go through three shifts of perception when they viewed her work. First, an initial impression with comments such as “That’s beautiful! I love the colours and the characters.” Second, a closer look with comments such as “I think this is a melancholy painting. The characters don’t seem happy.” Third, a search for meaning with comments such as “What exactly is happening here? What’s the story?” Sarah’s art engages and challenges.
I had an opportunity to interview Sarah and began our conversation by asking her why she chose to work in the style of German Expressionism.
Sarah explained that she had drawn and painted since she was a child. “I was ten when I saved up my allowance to buy a mail-order paint set. I worked at my art over the years and eventually developed my own style. My teachers and other painters thought that my work looked like German Expressionism before I knew what that was. The greatest influence on my style was my Father who had no formal training in art but who had a tremendous artistic energy and a very interesting background.”
Sarah’s Father, Charles Palmer, is a 97-year old veteran who currently resides at Sunnybrook Veteran’s Hospital in Toronto. He was an 18-year old lad when he enlisted in the Canadian Army and was shipped off to England. He never saw action but was exposed to some of the aftermath of war on the continent. When he returned to Canada he became a family doctor and practiced in Parry Sound for a few years. He then decided to become a plastic surgeon, which was a new medical specialty at that time, and eventually focused on treating burn victims and children with birth defects. He started painting to help him deal with the stress of his war experience and with the stress of his medical practice. He painted on plywood, on canvas and on paper. When he and his wife, Mary, bought a small farm near Toronto, he painted cartoon-like characters and strange designs on the walls and ceiling of a large barn on the property. His children called the barn the “Sistine Barn”. He continued to paint all his life and is the most prolific participant in Sunnybrook’s art therapy program.
Sarah’s art often addresses the uncertainties of relationships and of gender identity. You can never be sure that the characters in her drawings and painting are friends or enemies and if the characters are male or female. Her interest in relationships and gender can also be traced to her Father who performed one of the first transgender operations in Canada. “For years, my Father’s patient visited us at Christmas to express his gratitude for an operation that gave him a happy family life.”
I ended my conversation with Sarah by telling her that she did not look like someone who creates challenging art. Sarah laughed and responded: “I’m totally opposite from what you might expect if you only knew me from my paintings. You’re not the first person to say that. They expect someone bigger and louder. I don’t look very dangerous. And I’m older than people expect. They see my paintings and then they expect me to look a certain way. Don’t be sure you know someone from one aspect of their lives. We all have different facets. We all have something others don’t see or understand.”
There is a longer version of my interview with Sarah and a selection of some of her work at artignotum.com. The site also features some of Charles’ art and some photographs of the Sistine Barn.
Anton Dimnik