Sarah Strachan - biography.
Born 1971, Biecester UK
I studied Fine Art Sculpture at Central St Martins, Exeter College and The National College of Art and Design in Dublin.
I had a free-lance career in London as a model-maker specialising in creature and puppet design/making, working mainly at The Jim Henson Creature Shop on various TV, film and theatre projects including Harry Potter, and the stage production of Doctor Dolittle.
I moved to Devon to start a family and continued making puppets, dolls and dogs and in 2018 collaborated with Orla Kiely for her retrospective exhibition, “A Life in Pattern” at The Fashion Museum in London making 27 dolls wearing miniaturised versions of her dresses.
I exhibited a conceptual art installation “ G H O S T” at Torre Abbey in Torquay (2020) and in The Bell Tower on the Dartington estate (2019)
Since 2021 I have been drawing and painting and had a solo exhibition at Birdwood House in Totnes in 2024 as well as being in group shows and open studio events.
2024 - Solo show, Birdwood House, Totnes, Devon
2023 - Solo show, The Curator, Totnes
2022 - Group Show, Stand Tall, Southcombe Barn Gallery, Devon
2020 - Solo shoe, G H O S T and The Theatre of the Extinct, Torre Abbey, Torquay, Devon
2019 - Solo show, G H O S T at The Bell Tower, Dartington Estate, Devon
2018 - 2023 - annual open studio events
Statement
My work is abstract; drawing, inkwork, some paint, collage.
My work begins with sketching, filling pages with linear forms.
I want to leave space on the page and keep things not too symmetrical.
My colours are muted with bursts of cadmium red and cobalt blue.
I’m influenced by modernist architecture, brutalist concrete structures, mid-century design.
But also by more mundane everyday objects, a wooden painted brick, a formica table top, a ceramic tile, a cooking pot.
I like working on old book covers, the colour of the paper and the unpredictable nature of how it will take ink or paint.
My work is simple, intuitive, conscious of not being overworked, seeking a balance between space and form.
All images copyright Sarah Strachan
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