Biography-Artist's Statement:
Sarah St. Lawrence is a Canadian artist, often working in the medium of Photography. Her objective, within the confines of her creative work, is to merge the duality, experienced by the consciousness of humankind, into one internal space, thereby assuaging fears--caused by perceived separation--and fostering new feelings of connectivity. Within her art, she is similarly interested in examining how seemingly unrelated forces, deemed in opposition, are actually mutually supportive, at a fundamental level.
Sarah is intuitively moved most often towards first finding, and then creating a photo/piece--striking a balance between the unadulterated, and her own creative input. Her work unifies documentary and expressive approaches as a means to convey a greater truth: "I often find myself utilizing 'found' lighting, and approach this (initially) by employing minimal involvement with lighting or objects to enhance the quality of "found spaces" and adhere to the environmental location/conditions already presented. I find a greater integrity here; intuition is kept open to other avenues of information and the original feeling/impulse that brought me to the space, is maintained."
Her fascination with universal concepts, and cosmic patterns ("as above, so below"), and particular interest in how these cosmic forces seem to affect society today, have been known to influence many of her pieces. Often these spaces of observation--studying the small to know the large--present truth as a gateway to change, and in doing so, make harmonious that which is commonly seen as disjunct. And isn't photography itself an active process of deconstructing a 3-D space into 2-D to facilitate locating a deeper appreciation, and truth? Also of keen interest, is the study and dislocation of space and time, and she finds the visual medium of photography, a perfect playground for exploring this in 2-D form: "I can experience disintegration from the Whole, as a movement towards photographic metaphoric or poetic "microscopy", undoing the Gestalt, found when a modern fast-paced society blurs details, thus, losing focus. "In studying these spaces of disconnect, I find greater truths are revealed in small spaces, whether it be small in meaning and often unnoticed (like the daily chores and experienced mundanity found in Ennui), or small, infinitesimal or fragmented parts of the whole (found in other works like If--a multi-perspectival photographic piece, exploring the deconstruction of space contained within natural imagery). Often these spaces of observation--studying the small to know the large--present truth as a gateway to change: a concept I wish to express in my art." She maintains that through extreme isolation and disconnect, she has found a different form of connection, and has built a vocabulary to interpret universal forces and "opposites" felt through personal trials and tribulations: "I feel society's excessive interest in over-expansion, is causing a subsequent disconnect from the Whole, leading to feelings of isolation and, in some cases, desolation. This is felt through the characters presented in Ennui: A Modern Ethos, as they seek to negotiate the discord of their primal need for connection, pleasure, and wholeness, while experiencing disappointment, lost dreams, and human and environmental disconnect: all things common to survivors of modern times."
She states her art often informs her of the weakening of the over-indulgent Patriarchal forces, and is often reminded of this one key element of interconnectedness: how each "thing" at its extreme becomes its opposite. In tandem to these feelings runs the concept of the lost female force/power in modern times, exemplified by softness, stillness, solitude, respite, darkness, quietude, substance, nourishment, and beauty for beauty's sake. Her art serves as a reminder of the rising tide of this overdue force, as it takes its rightful place from a "position of begging to one of insistence"". Thus, what can only be interpreted as the Divine Feminine, becomes a recurring theme, as illustrated in the majority of her work, including Creation, Genesis, Existentia, (and Ennui and Vitae Interruptus by its absence presented).
Various themes of domestication, as seen in contemporary society, are scattered throughout Sarah's art, presented in such works as Ennui (human), Existentia (animal), and Vitae Interruptus (plant). "In these works specifically, I discovered there is more to freedom than meets the eye, and aim to propose this question: What is freedom? Is this an example of freedom from or freedom towards?"
She hopes her art can serve as a metaphoric reminder of common cosmic truths or unifying concepts, and encourages those who feel they are in a space of disconnect, to seek to find solace in similarities and parallels between things normally viewed in opposition, and in doing so, confirm "similarity"" as the glue that hosts and holds "opposites" together. "Through my life and my work, I have found that opposites become complements to a system in balance, and we as a society and embodied beings are, at our most healthful, designed for the "middle path", and thus must pursue a balanced life in order to thrive in all facets".
Sarah has published three books: Creation, Genesis, and From Dark To Light (poetry book).