Sarah Compton











Sarah Compton

Dave Cayton Memorial Scholarship


Description of Work

One Foot Forward - 48" x 36" - Oil on canvas - $1,500

Deliberate Hesitation - 48" x 36" -  Oil on canvas - $1,500

Peaked Curiosity - 48" x 36" -  Oil on canvas - $1,500

Unwelcome Exposure - 48" x 36" -  Oil on Canvas - $1,500

Artist's Statement

    People are always searching whether they realize it or not: Where do we come from, what are we, and where are we going? This body of work focuses on the idea of searching for something while not knowing what you are looking for.

    The figures in the paintings are trying to find their way in the darkness with limited light to guide them. Light acts as the clarifier and hope for what is revealed to the figures. This is contrasted by the immense darkness, the abstract and the unknown that we are so afraid of. This intrinsic fear of the unknown presents itself through how much of the landscape is reveled or hidden to both the audience and the figures. Unlike landscape artists that display the glories of an expansive composition, these works focus and show only a small portion of the landscape making it both tangible and limited. Reactions to these factors can be observed by the two different figures, two different approaches to searching or two different ways to look. One sees searching as opportunity the other sees it as debilitating. 

    The journey of self-discovery is not perfect, everyone has their own reactions and outcomes. Just like everyone else, I am searching in life for what I want to do and what I want to create. These subconscious feelings of searching and the unknown darkness are universal, so through these paintings, the viewer is invited to investigate themselves to find what they are searching for.

Artist's Website

If you wish to purchase any of these pieces, please contact the gallery director, Jacqueline Nathan (jnathan@bgsu.edu.)

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Updated: 04/24/2020 07:00PM