Rat City Studios

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Sarah Magar

IG @sarah.magar

Artist Statement
I strive to create visually imaginative and textural landscapes to touch and explore, provoking thought through the experience of a tangible object. My imagery often blends satirical

narratives drawn in vivid colors, with fragility, grace, and vulnerability. For inspiration, I often rely on the positive and negative influences that I experience daily, the confusion of dreams and memories, and the wondrous curiosity I experienced as a child. I am fascinated by how the mind creates memories and the correlation of experience, both real and perceived.

Much of my conceptual challenge is to convey the nostalgic imprint of the past, and find ways to portray it in physical form. Like an interpreter, clay captures that transition, showing every mark or imprint, line, or scratch made on its surface.

I am also interested in the response to the drinking vessel as a functional canvas. I’m drawn to its intimacy and ability to partake in daily use and ritual. For me, the cup has become a simile for how we hold on to our fond memories. There is an aspect of preciousness and care to how we hold them both, cradled in our hands, or in our hearts.

Biography
Sarah Magar was born in Dallas Texas in 1983. She roamed shoeless and free on her family’s farm at the edge of the sunflower field and the wild wood. Other than visiting with the cats, chickens and the weird-eyed goats, she spent her time turning over rocks, catching grasshoppers, and poking things with sticks.

Home was always an open land of wonder for Sarah. By the age of 9 she and her family had moved several times and traveled much of the US. In the end, and almost by accident, she was able to grow some roots in the Rockies of Montana. Her love for nature, travel, and exploration was bolstered by Montana’s wide open and free charisma, and emboldened her need for the expressive and visual arts.

Sarah completed her BFA in Ceramics & Drawing with a minor in Art History from the University of Montana School of Art in 2015. Upon graduation, she went on to complete her artist’s residency at Medalta Potteries in Medicine Hat, Alberta. She has exhibited her work in the US, and Canada. She has received awards from several juried shows, including the purchase of her work by the Montana Museum of Art and Culture in 2013 and 2015, and The People’s Choice Award at the 8th Annual Simple Cup show at the Kobo Gallery in Seattle. Sarah is currently working in studio on Vancouver Island, in Beautiful British Columbia.