Art2Muse

Artworks available to view in Sydney

Sarah Fordham spent her twenties studying visual arts and traveling the globe. At the College Of Fine Arts in Paddington, she majored in painting but it wasn't until her final year at university that Sarah feels she came into her own as an artist. Travel-wise, the artist is a gypsy at heart. She has studied French language and culture in Paris, lived in California and at one time, called the grungy Lower East Side of New York City, home. Born in San Francisco and raised in Australia, the artist sees her work as global, her imagery stemming from the many places she has lived in and visited. All of these experiences have been dutifully recorded in art diaries the artist has lovingly kept over the years.

For the past ten years, Sarah has been a Sydney-based artist who has split her time between teaching Visual Arts to high school students and forging an expanding painting career. 2007, however, saw the artist make a radical move from the city to the country foregoing full-time teaching to focus upon her artmaking practice. In turn, this tree change has signaled an exciting shift in the artist's career. Her studio is now located in the pristine Yarramalong Valley

Fordham's works have proven popular with private collectors to date, prompting her fifth solo exhibition in six years. Her latest body of work includes a plethora of paintings in the artist's trademark vibrant colour palette as well as her highly original painted animal skulls finished in a high gloss resin - a must-have one-off sculptural piece for any collector of fresh, innovative contemporary art.

In Out of Range, the recurring animal motifs are inspired by several experiences including the artist’s travels to far flung places such as Alaska. She also recounts a vivid memory of a road trip through the mid-west United States during 'huntin season', where prized game were displayed awkwardly on motel walls. Whilst these artworks are not intended as social statements on animal rights, one can't help being reminded of the haunting image of a stuffed animal on a wall (suggested by the artist's use of wallpaper pattern in the background of her paintings). Equally, the artist was also interested in the intriguing aesthetics of the magnificent antlers and horns that are worn like crowns upon each animal's head.

Apart from exhibiting annually, the artist busies herself with filling orders from clients who have taken an interest in Fordham's personalized pieces.

Artists Statement

My work is derived primarily from my subconscious. It is autobiographical in every sense and acts as a sounding board for my thoughts and ideas. Memories from the past are skewed with stories of the present as I attempt to make sense of self and my surroundings.

The process is one of spontaneity and impulsiveness. Rarely do I plan what images I am about to create. Often I just start applying color to the blank surface and see where it takes me. I use what materials I can find to hand at the time and I do not discriminate between high grade oil paints and low grade enamel house paints. For me, in recent years, the art store has been replaced with the hardware store. Creating a painting is travelling into the unknown and for the most part, I enjoy the bumpy ride. When a painting gets away from me, I am always prepared for the dreaded whiting-out of it in order to start over.

I am at home in my studio where the smell of the linseed oil, mineral turps and enamel spray paint linger in the air. One can find tins, cans and tubes of paint, markers, ink pens, charcoal, stencils, cardboard, canvas, fabric, and other detritus waiting to be used. My art diaries, sketchbooks, children's storybooks, encyclopaedias and artist's biographies are strewn around for inspiration. My past works have included images of planes, bridges, fish, airports, people, animals, buildings and anything else that comes to mind at the time. The constant is always the luminous color palette and the personal script.
Sarah Fordham

Education

1996 Bachelor of Art Education, College of Fine Arts, UNSW

Solo Exhibitions

2000 Fishscapes, Norton Gallery, McMahon's Point
2005 On the 6, Canvas Gallery, Bondi
2006 On the Fly, Canvas Gallery, Surry Hills
2007 Recent Paintings, Newport Artworks, Newport
2007 Out of Range, Tom Dunne Gallery, Darlinghurst