Adventures in Indie Filmmaking: Artist to Artist: Sarah Denby

S~ It has been two years since I first interviewed you and I see that you have taken a distinct departure from your previous style. What was the determining factor in the decision to move from figurative work to abstract?

Sarah~ I began my career painting portraits. I just picked up a picture one day of my mom and my sister and thought, well I can paint this. And I did. And it was pretty good. So I just kept it up. Then people would say, hey, how bout us? Can you paint us? And so it began. Commissioned paintings are only fun for so long, though, because you don’t really have creative control of your work. It’s more like a craft than an art form in some ways. The last one I did was so soulless and horrible; I swore never to do another. The recipients liked it, god help them, but I was disgusted. Working from all these photos and trying to collage the images together…it was just flat and a total failure compositionally.

I’m cringing now thinking about it. If it was up to me, I would have given the money back and burned it. So I decided to screw portraiture in the traditional sense and paint from memory and imagination only. That way, there was no set idea of how it should turn out. I stopped trying to communicate some preconceived idea through my images and started just using art to purge memories and ideas and experiment for myself. The process became less predictable, and I just started working with the media and trusting them instead of working against them. I was so happy with the outcome, that I’ve been doing it ever since. Painting and stripping away, adding removing…that’s how I get my setting now. Not stupid leaf shaped brush strokes, but just fields of color until it seems like a nice place to stop and have a picnic, then adding subjects. They’ve even started escaping the canvas all together in 3D forms … like they’ve been waiting for me to figure it out all these years.

S~ Would you like to share anything new in regards to your Art (production and career) that has happened over the last two years?

Sarah~ Since the last interview I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art, concentrating in painting and ceramics from Western Washington University. Actually I have one more quarter left, I graduate in March and it’s been an amazing experience to say the least.

S~ Who/what have been you recent influences.

Sarah~ I think all of my professors and peers at school have influenced me. Just being immersed in art all day long has opened up a lot of new projects and processes and possibilities.

S~ Could you tell us a little more about your experience at the University: specific instructors, teaching methods, projects that stood out in your mind?

Sarah~ At Skagit Valley Community College, I obtained my transfer (2 year degree) mostly from online classes. But my last quarter I took a core art class called 3D design with Mary Iverson. It was the first real classroom experience I had since I started back to school and Mary was great. She helped me decide where to go from earning an AA and worked on an independent study project with me and made my time on campus so enjoyable.

She is a very insightful instructor. Not to mention she is a very accomplished painter. When I went on to Western, I was still clinging to what I knew I could do well for the first several quarters. I didn’t want to make mistakes or look bad because I’m this 31 year old mom surrounded by all these adorable 20 year olds…there was some insecurity at first. But I got over it and was able to really use the resources on campus to my advantage and experiment with all sorts of stuff from working on a loom, to pottery, to woodworking. I was no longer limited to paint, and I think that’s how a lot of my newer style has arrived.

S~ What projects were most influential on your art and/or creative process?

Sarah~ Two projects stand out. The first was in a class called Experimental Painting with Cynthia Camlin (also an amazing painter.) The course was built around this idea of really analyzing the act of painting. We created these ‘environments’ and they were our subjects all quarter long. Kind of like a diorama or still life, but without the naturalism because we were able to paint something tiny and fill a huge canvas, or focus on one texture or color.

Anything we wanted. I ended up spending an entire week on this 11x17 canvas. I was supposed to have 8 works completed by the end of the quarter for the critique, but I became totally obsessed with getting the color correct. I ended up sacrificing my grade, but I knew I would go fucking nuts if I couldn’t get it ‘right’. And finally, late one night in the studio, I did. And when no one was really impressed, I didn’t care. It was kind of a breakthrough for me. That what I see is so different from what you see, that I can never rely on the imput of others if I really want to get satisfaction from my work. The other experience was volunteering on a team of students to install Do-Ho Suh’s Cause and Effect on campus. The job took a week and thousands of tiny men made of pink resin. Here’s the link : http://news.wwu.edu/go/doc/1538/1454451/

S~ Has your education opened any opportunities for you as an artist that weren’t there before?

Sarah~ Absolutely. Education is about learning, but it’s also about connections; I’d even venture to say it’s mostly about connections. Most of your instructors are established artists with a wealth of knowledge at your disposal. Your peers are going through the same struggles and you feed off one another. And gallery opportunities are everywhere, for you to visit and for you to participate in. But for me, it was also a way to confirm that what I was doing was a good thing to be doing. With kids, you don’t want to waste energy on anything pointless, because there’s so little to go around. Earning my degree at Western was a daily confirmation that I was doing something good for my soul, that other people share this passion, and that great things can come of it. I’ve got a show in March, I’ve got a few exciting career opportunities upon graduation, so yeah…I’m very happy to have had the success I’ve had through school. But what I can really take from the experience is that creating art is never pointless. I mean some art just needs to be made. Great art just needs to exist, and it won’t unless we make it.

S~ How have life events affected your art in recent years?

Sarah~ Before I was using images as sources for subject matter; now I feel like my art is more influenced by ideas. I think I’m a lot more confident that the things that are happening in my head can be realized through art successfully without having some visual reference. I’ve taken a turn towards the abstract, you could say, but still have a love of portraiture.

S~ Have you explored any new media/ discovered any new techniques?

Sarah~ Yes!! I’ve always liked a little multi-media happenings in my work, but it’s recently begun to take over in a good way. The predictable is being replaced by weird surreal shit. I’m working with collage and ink as well as acrylic and lots of Sharpie and spray paint, too. I’ve been sculpting my subjects as well. Just these imaginary creatures that remind me of something I’ve seen or thought I saw as a kid in the woods.