Sarah Fordham

About Sarah Fordham

Sarah Fordham spent her twenties studying visual arts and traveling the globe. At COFA UNSW, she majored in painting but it wasn’t until her final year at university that Sarah feels she came into her own as an artist. Travel-wise, the artist is a gypsy at heart. Born in California and raised in Sydney, she has studied French language and culture in Paris, lived in Lake Tahoe and San Francisco and more recently, she has lived and painted in the grungy Lower East Side of New York City. All of these experiences have been dutifully recorded in travel diaries the artist has lovingly kept over her years, which as Sarah explains, “provides great fodder for future artworks”.

Up until two years ago, Sarah has been a Sydney-based artist who has split her time between teaching Visual Arts to high school students and painting. 2007, however, saw the artist make a radical move from the city to the country – foregoing teaching to focus upon her artmaking practice full time. In turn, this move has signaled an exciting shift in the artist’s career. Her studio is now located in the pristine Yarramalong Valley, 1.5hrs north of Sydney.

About the Art

Sarah’s latest body of work includes a plethora of paintings in the artist’s trademark vibrant colour palette. These works include a series of fabric covered canvases – a must-have for any collector of fresh, innovative contemporary art.

In this collection the recurring animal motifs are inspired by several experiences including the artist’s travels to far flung places such as Alaska. She also recounts a vivid memory of a road trip through the mid-west United States during “huntin’ season”, where prized game were displayed awkwardly on motel walls. Whilst these artworks are not intended as social statements on animal rights, one can’t help being reminded of the haunting image of a stuffed animal on a wall (suggested by the artist’s use of wallpaper pattern in the background of her paintings). Equally, the artist was also interested in the intriguing aesthetics of the magnificent antlers and horns that are worn like crowns upon each animal’s head.

Apart from exhibiting annually, the artist busies herself with filling orders from clients who have taken an interest in Fordham’s personalized pieces. For further information, visit www.sarahfordham.com.au.

For more on Sarah Fordham see
http://www.art2muse.com.au/gallery/sarah_fordham