Artist Statement: Sarah Papworth

I enjoy the journey of making art. I feel like a guide, coaxing the painting into form, celebrating colour and shape relationships. Finding freedom in letting go of lines and textures I was attached to, and then building new connections and story with line and new marks. Layers build upon other layers.

Nature, particularly wild land, sea and overgrown forgotten areas pull me back to the canvas. Making their way into my work through texture, colour and feeling. I work abstractly, but occasionally a picture comes through in the shapes and composition and I go with it. Or I sometimes sketch more realistically, only to want to further the work by abstracting it. Simplifying in this way feels like I’m getting to the core of the language as to why an arrangement or scene speaks to us as humans.

I use old decorating brushes, forks and sticks to achieve the textures I prefer. I also enjoy using graphite pencil and artist crayons alongside the acrylic paint to achieve a softer language.

My wish is to connect with my inner-self, and through that connect with others, nature and the universe.