Featured Spring 2021 Work

Suspension
Sarah Lassiter MA Thesis Exhibition

Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery (WCAD, Level 1)
 April 26 – Friday, May 7, 2021

Sarah Lassiter

Artist Statement

Our nation and world are facing massive crises, perhaps even to the point of existential threat. In the face of such monumental problems, sluggish responses from our institutions and leaders breed pessimism, and even the most well-intentioned individuals are severely limited in their ability to affect meaningful change. My own personal struggles collide with these looming concerns, further intensifying my sense of dread. Planning a life against this backdrop of imminent collapse feels absurd, and it becomes more difficult each day to project myself into a future that is almost theoretical or unreal. As the realization of my efforts and plans becomes increasingly abstract, a type of paralysis sets in. This series of paintings explores the cognitive dissonance that accompanies trying to build a life in a world that is falling apart. 

Through these paintings, I visualize the ways I experience this dread. Using interior scenes from my home, I depict the way exterior anxieties invade daily life. Within these spaces, immobilized figures represent a diminished sense of self-efficacy and stunted action. The accumulation of debris as subject matter signals a parallel physical and emotional collapse, and also betrays a self-destructive coping mechanism. This is reflected again in the use of found objects like bottle caps and aluminum beer tabs. The series’ inclusion of both quiet scenes and noisier, more abstracted elements is a means of exploring the counterintuitive relationship between outer chaos and stillness. Aggressive marks, especially with a palette knife, are used to express turmoil. Pure red and black colors are used to portray both the intensity and insidious nature of these feelings as the marks creep into, and at times even take over, the compositions. By exploring my struggles in such an open and vulnerable way, I invite others to let their own guard down, to reach for support and connection. 

Follow Sarah Lassiter on Instagram @lassiter.art

For prices and more information you can email – sclassiter@ualr.edu