Sarah Z. Short
Rhode Island, USA
Website
www.driftwaystudio.com
Social Media
Instagram
Pinterest
How would you describe your work?
I abstract vintage materials into analog collage art.
What inspires you?
My materials inspire me. There’s so much beauty in an old book with yellowing pages, a broken spine, and fading fabric cover. I’ll take the book apart and those pieces are composed into a collage that looks vintage and contemporary. I want viewers to have a dialog with my art as they look closely to puzzle out what papers I used.
Can you speak about your process?
I start with book pages as my substrate for collages and letterpress printing. I have a Nolan Proof Press and print with wooden type and acrylic paint on the old papers, which I’ll then cut up so the letterforms are abstracted. Those papers are combined with book parts and other bits of ephemera.
How did you become interested in art?
My mother is a textile and fiber artist, so I grew up with sewing machines, looms, and spinning wheels. While I’ve tried all those things, I finally realized that I was more drawn to paper. Once I learned to use old books as my collage material, my artistic practice took off.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
Artists: Robert Rauschenberg, Rex Ray, Melinda Tidwell, Kurt Schwitters, Cecil Touchon, Helen Frankenthaler, and Hannelore Baron.
Books: Too many! As a former English teacher, this is an impossible question. I’m always looking for more books to read.
Mary Oliver, in Winter Hours, “Play is never far from the impress of the creative drive, never far from the happiness of discovery.”
Advice for younger artists?
When I was a classroom teacher, some of my students would take out their sketchbooks whenever they had a free moment. Those are the future artists because they already realize that working on their art every single day is essential. Even if you are not a young artist, but starting a practice later in life, the same idea applies. Find some time every day to create.
