San Antonio, TX
Contact Information:
sara@vodkairish.com
http://www.myspace.com/vodkairish
My name is Sara Barcus and I am 24 years old. I have been involved in the San Antonio art scene since I was 18. I have been showing my work in galleries in San Antonio for about 6 years now, I work in art direction, have an arts based non-profit called Support Local Arts: San Antonio, do freelance commission work in several fields, mainly illustration, I love having the opportunity to do face painting, create my own products. It has taken a long time to feel confident my work is refined and focused enough and I am giving back to the community, to meet up to my own expectations, but now I feel I have reached that point.
My work tends to be very personal and open. This [and my use of color and my own personal style] is what I’ve heard draws people mostly to my work. I’ve had quite a bit of formal training in visual arts, but more of my influence comes from participating in San Antonio’s art scene and letting myself and my art to grow into something genuine. Much of my supplies to work with are donated at this point, which actually is helpful. It keeps me thinking in different directions. I’ve learned to love working in extremely varied medias, and it is this that has led me to large-scale multi-media series work. It is my goal for each solo show I have to create a show with all entirely new and varied work all dealing with the same theme or subject matter.
My last show done in this manner was in December of 2006, and is a perfect example of the quality of work I hope to achieve in each series. It is called Memories, “Remedies”, and [Nightmares]. The series deals with a very transitional period of my life. I had been recently diagnosed with bad anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. So the work in the series and the book [Therapy:an illustrated novel] are an honest expression of what I was dealing with that I hope may help someone. It was a hard series to get through, but I feel it was worth it. Turning all that bad into something beautiful. There are pieces in all types of medias; 2 dimensional paintings, small scale mixed media drawings, large scale mixed media paintings, quilts, a book, and a nesting doll. I am still hoping later to get the book picked up by a publisher to do a paperback version. For now, only a few handmade versions are available.
The series on which I am currently working is called Laughter and Forgetting: For Milan. It deals with the comlexities within these two words. How laughter is something beautiful, but can also be a sharp knife to insecure ears. How the mind can choose to forget something horrible and therefore exists in a blissfully ignorant but volatile state, or how sadly one forgets happinesses from their childhood, names of friends. Whether conscious or unconscious, forgetting can be a helpful tool, or a painful reaction. Most of these pieces contain photo transfers on which backgrounds are built up. Layer upon layer building up segments and images until the complexities and chaos turn into a coherent image or feeling by connecting the dots and segments and images. This series is not yet finished, but many of the pieces are available as a preview of the show. I am still looking for a gallery in which to show this series.
I'm also currently working on a 365 Drawings series [of which you can see a preview in the fine arts section]. It is tentatively called A mind, A life and is just a collection of drawings that I do throughout the year; sketches that turned into something more, small characters and cartoons, and fully formed drawings or illustrations.
My next series will be focused on San Antonio and the pseudo-underground art movements in town, highlighting their creators and innovators. I’m not sure on the title yet, but it will include artists, musicians, store owners, etc. The visual arts series will be portraits of the people and the book will contain the portraits, interviews, and a small biography. I just feel like the art movement is growing in San Antonio, and the next step is for us all to integrate and socialize. Have respect for the accomplishments that have come and contribute what you can. It will be my ode to beautiful people in a beautiful city.
Influences:
expressionism, impressionism, po-mo, appropriation, dada, church of the subgenius, My life, politics, evolution, empathy, Michel Gondry, graffitti, graphic novels, film noir, Stephin Merritt, french new-wave, b-boys, new-wave [film, french or otherwise], Serge Gainsbourg, children's books, oppression, Milan Kundera, gestalt, animals, human nature, Chomsky, Mumia, Ray Charles, Jon J Muth.
Other Interests:
playing piano, reading, politics, dancing, history, animals, evolution, psychology, anthropology, primates, cultures and culture, french new wave, film noir, art books, good good music, old 40's musicals, Stephin Merritt, my dog, making lots of stuff, clothing, and everything else.