Artist Talk – Sussex Arts and Cultural Center, Sussex, NB
Discussion of Sarah Sackville’s recent work
Tom Smart, CEO and Director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and Shannon Merrifield, Buckland Merrifield Gallery
October 6, 2019
Shannon Merrifield – “How does Sarah fit with the other east coast painters?”
Tom Smart – “The east coast magic realists (Mary Pratt, Christopher, Alex Coville, Tom Forestall, maybe someone else), actually each had pretty different drivers and subject matter and technique and challenges, rich historical sense informed these artists. So pretty diverse group.
Sarah does things with colour that they don’t do. Her brush stroke and gesture, or the ‘lyricism’ of her work is a very different response to the moment, and also the sense that you’re actually in the space. She’s channeling the energy and experience of the place, in the way that say the group of seven would (Tom Thompson, landscape painter, used to channel weather and channel what he was feeling and find it in the painting). Sarah is similar. She’s in the landscape, there’s a sense that you’re enfolded by the natural works or the environment, and the environment is informing the way you respond to the subject matter or the narrative subject matter. The weather out here, or the nighttime, or this beautiful conservatory here. Let’s calls it ‘experiential realism’.”
Tom Smart – “As a viewer, why do I like a painting? Composition, technique – I like colours, subject, narrative – it makes me happy.
When painting, her hand is a direct extension of her mind/vision. When you lose the body, or lose the medium, something really magical happens. That’s the sense I get from Sarah, that something really magical happens just in the way, in the dip and in putting the mark on the canvas. Something really interesting happens, and if that’s realism, that’s a pretty high powered thing to say, it’s more uncanny, there’s something that is startling, you think this is the world that you see, but when you get in a little bit deeper, there’s uh, it’s something else going on, and it’s always that something else that I think transcends medium and transcends technique and style, and takes you as a viewer into the world of art and changes your perceptions.
When painting nocturnes, you have to almost imagine a “hyper-realism” or “hyper-sense”.
Her underpainting of colour creates rich surfaces, creates atmosphere beyond the picture plane, beyond the window. Not just colour that moves up with white, or down with black, but a really sophisticated idea of colour, and the way colour interacts on the surface and in your brain to alter your perceptions. Very complex, it holds the eye and guides the eye into the light and makes it magical.”
- TOM SMART INTERVIEW (2019)
- TJ ARTICLE (March 3, 2019)
New Brunswick Artist Sarah Sackville is no stranger to the city of Saint John and its unique personality. With a studio in Sussex, Sackville has been studying and using the Port city as a subject for more than half a decade.
This year, in partnership with Port Saint John and the Saint John Arts Centre, Sackville will create a new body of work capturing the Port in all its glory. Over twelve months, Sackville will use acrylic on canvas to tell a story through changing seasons and backdrops. Sackville, a self-described lover of cultural landscapes, has been selected for the first ever Port Saint John artist residency. This exciting initiative will provide funding and exclusive Port access for artists on a biennial basis. Works created through the residency will culminate in an exhibition at the Saint John Arts Centre’s Port Saint John gallery every other fall. The aim of the residency is to support community and the arts while elevating profiles and opportunities for New Brunswick artists. Sackville, an artist who “transcends medium and style” was chosen out of a diverse pool of applicants and will undoubtedly bring a unique spin on the waterfront sightlines. Sackville’s work has been described as “experiential realism” and “magical. ”Mark your calendars for September 2021, when Sarah’s exhibit will be displayed for the public at the Port Saint John Gallery. In the meantime, you can check out Sackville’s impressive portfolio by visiting her website and following her on Instagram.
- PORT SAINT JOHN ARTICLE (2021)