Sarah Winkler

Region: West

Website: http://www.sarahwinkler.com

City / State: Denver, CO

I am fascinated by environmental factors that shape the natural world and seek to imitate their destructive and constructive qualities in an artistic technique. I conceptualize each work by relating the action of painting to the geological story of erosion and formation.

Each painting is the final product of an extensive method that begins with sketches and photographs of landscapes I have visited. I translate these visuals into collages, using paper that I have designed through experimental processes. I then develop the collages into large-scale, highly stylized acrylic-on-panel paintings. A strong horizon line dividing the pictorial space shows that what rises above ground is created by the geology below. The materials I use are mixed with natural minerals such as marble, mica, and iron oxide, cementing the narrative connection of the works to their subject. I also use solvents, natural resists, carving implements, and sanding tools to mimic the kinetic processes of erosion and deposition. By applying paint in this way, I create a history of gestures that form naturalistic abstracted landscapes.