Sarah Rose

ARTIST BIO

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Sarah Rose grew up in South Africa between the fynbos & the sea, & she did not plan to be an artist.While completing her Bachelor of Journalism & Media Studies at Rhodes University, she experimented with visual art as a language for storytelling. She sketched at book launches, student protests & political rallies, & her unusual journalism portfolio gained her entry in the Honors in Fine Art program with Prague College in the Czech Republic.After graduating from Prague, she spent 6 months backpacking around South America & returned to South Africa to host a solo exhibition of portraits painted abroad. More homegrown exhibits & travels followed, including visits to her long-term long-distance partner in the US. In 2020, Sarah was accepted into the University of Stellenbosch for Masters in English in Creative Writing. In 2021, she submitted her thesis before getting married in a bookstore in Chicago IL & moving to Austin TX. She continued to paint for markets, commissions, & UpFront Gallery while also working as a Teaching Artist & Artistic Associate for the non-profit arts organization Creative Action, & lecturing in English Composition & Literary Studies with Austin Community College.At the end of 2025, she moved to Eugene where she has connected with Lane Arts Council as a teaching artist & member of the board of directors, & joined the teaching staff of Wellsprings Friends School. She is also an exhibiting artist & instructor with Maude Kerns Gallery.‍

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ARTIST STATEMENT

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‍I inhale the world. The thousands of shades of green in a forest, soft light passing through leaves, the shape of a bird on a branch, the ever unfolding path. But I cannot hold the whole world inside my lungs – especially as we pollute the seas, stain the skies & leach the soil of life. Instead, I exhale through art.I create art as a way of honoring the world around me; a means of gently appreciating the chaos & miracle of this place. But art-making is more than a public prayer or a call to action. It is a deeply personal adventure & an act of discovery. A chance to explore the ways that materials, color & shapes can be arranged to share the impression of a space or moment or life form. An opportunity to process my experiences of wonder, fear, hope & rapture. It is a language that I am constantly learning & stretching & revisiting, & so I create in a variety of ways. Sometimes collaging with homemade paper or sculpting on top of old books; studying an animal in acrylic or the feeling of a forest in oil.My style is eclectic, ranging from palette knife movements to realistic portraits, & my subject matter varies from gentle portraits to botanicals & bugs. I suppose the world is too varied to be exhaled in any one way, & I need to make art.