Artist Statement
When I look at the grand Western landscape, I see a moment caught in time. A layer of rock and mineral resting between climatic and geological events. Their surfaces scarred by glaciers, the ridge lines formed by tectonic uplifts and erosion. All evidence of a landscape that has experienced dramatic shifts in character over time.
Though the action of painting geological formations using abstraction, organic textures and luminous color, I can convey how natural physical forces work to shape a constantly changing environment. Geological research of specific areas assists in the visual and thematic choices that create each body of work. I work experimentally with materials and tools to find textures and imagery that mimic the forces and patterns of nature. Textures that tell the story of the ancient landscape as well as those rapidly changing today as a result of climate change. A hard edge, cut collage aesthetic in the work shows a process of layered formation, of taking a history of marks and gestures and recreating the terrain anew. Landscapes are not static and are constantly evolving and adapting to shifting environmental conditions.
Biography
Originally from Manchester, England, Sarah Winkler has travelled and lived abroad from Malawi to Brunei, Iceland to Norway, the Italian Alps to the Pacific Coast. Time spent immersed in the most scenic geological wonders on Earth have influenced her style and subject as an artist. Winkler’s studio is at the summit of a 9,000 ft (2700m) peak in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with direct access to the high alpine environment. Her work is an exploration into the geological story of landscape formation. She studied Studio Art, Earth Science and Creative Writing at William Paterson University and combines these subjects in her contemporary mountainscapes that often incorporate crushed minerals collected from the landscape. Winkler began her career as a collage artist and print graphic designer in the mid 1990s when layered mock ups, remixed music and a multi cultural Los Angeles art scene became a part of her language of appropriation. Currently, she sketches out her ideas in a collage format using printed imagery that she has created either physically or digitally. Her collage sketches are translated by scaled drawing then each layer hand painted to retain the cut paper collage aesthetic and to depict the strata of geological time in landscapes.
Sarah Winkler’s big break as a fine artist came in 2010 with a large scale, site specific commission that joined an illustrious collection of artists at the Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her work has since been included in over 100 prominent US and international collections including Maker’s Mark Whisky in Kentucky, Vail Health in Colorado and Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Her work is in private collections worldwide.
Winkler’s art is represented in galleries in the US and Canada and has been exhibited in museums and Art Fairs including Bakersfield Museum of Art in California, Art Aspen and the LA Art Show. Winkler is a participating artist in the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies program where she has recently been showcased at the American Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Winkler has been named by the curators of ARTSY as one of the top ‘Women Painters on the Rise’ and was curated into their 2022 digital billboard campaign 'Scenes of Summer' exhibition in NYC. Her work has been featured in Scientific American, Times UK, Vail Valley, Mountain Living, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, American Art Collector, New American Paintings and in the documentary, 'Moment' by Making Art Films.
When I look at the grand Western landscape, I see a moment caught in time. A layer of rock and mineral resting between climatic and geological events. Their surfaces scarred by glaciers, the ridge lines formed by tectonic uplifts and erosion. All evidence of a landscape that has experienced dramatic shifts in character over time.
Though the action of painting geological formations using abstraction, organic textures and luminous color, I can convey how natural physical forces work to shape a constantly changing environment. Geological research of specific areas assists in the visual and thematic choices that create each body of work. I work experimentally with materials and tools to find textures and imagery that mimic the forces and patterns of nature. Textures that tell the story of the ancient landscape as well as those rapidly changing today as a result of climate change. A hard edge, cut collage aesthetic in the work shows a process of layered formation, of taking a history of marks and gestures and recreating the terrain anew. Landscapes are not static and are constantly evolving and adapting to shifting environmental conditions.
Biography
Originally from Manchester, England, Sarah Winkler has travelled and lived abroad from Malawi to Brunei, Iceland to Norway, the Italian Alps to the Pacific Coast. Time spent immersed in the most scenic geological wonders on Earth have influenced her style and subject as an artist. Winkler’s studio is at the summit of a 9,000 ft (2700m) peak in the Colorado Rocky Mountains with direct access to the high alpine environment. Her work is an exploration into the geological story of landscape formation. She studied Studio Art, Earth Science and Creative Writing at William Paterson University and combines these subjects in her contemporary mountainscapes that often incorporate crushed minerals collected from the landscape. Winkler began her career as a collage artist and print graphic designer in the mid 1990s when layered mock ups, remixed music and a multi cultural Los Angeles art scene became a part of her language of appropriation. Currently, she sketches out her ideas in a collage format using printed imagery that she has created either physically or digitally. Her collage sketches are translated by scaled drawing then each layer hand painted to retain the cut paper collage aesthetic and to depict the strata of geological time in landscapes.
Sarah Winkler’s big break as a fine artist came in 2010 with a large scale, site specific commission that joined an illustrious collection of artists at the Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, Nevada. Her work has since been included in over 100 prominent US and international collections including Maker’s Mark Whisky in Kentucky, Vail Health in Colorado and Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Her work is in private collections worldwide.
Winkler’s art is represented in galleries in the US and Canada and has been exhibited in museums and Art Fairs including Bakersfield Museum of Art in California, Art Aspen and the LA Art Show. Winkler is a participating artist in the US Department of State’s Art in Embassies program where she has recently been showcased at the American Embassy in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Winkler has been named by the curators of ARTSY as one of the top ‘Women Painters on the Rise’ and was curated into their 2022 digital billboard campaign 'Scenes of Summer' exhibition in NYC. Her work has been featured in Scientific American, Times UK, Vail Valley, Mountain Living, Cowboys & Indians Magazine, American Art Collector, New American Paintings and in the documentary, 'Moment' by Making Art Films.