AC Portsmouth Art Gallery

Head Over Heels by Sarah Stockstill

An organic and instinctual painter, Sarah’s process relies on a foundation of several layers of texture that is applied and sanded back to get a smooth surface that lets her most immediate marks shine on the surface.

Responding to color and forms, she follows as led. Sometimes into a deep horizon with traces of landscape, an organic jungle of pattern, a human figure, and every now and then an animal with an ethereal mystique. Sometimes the layering is broad, covering the entire canvas, and sometimes it is minute, focusing and embellishing a possibly overlooked element of the painting, which in turn becomes the center of interest. Most always layers are created and taken away, leaving small traces whose threads become more important for doing so.