Having grown up in an age of rapid technological advancement, my work combines analogue and digital processes. The theme of ‘Translation’ is central to my practice as an artist and as an educator. I am interested in how narratives are constructed and re-constructed and how our identities are endlessly re-interpreted.
My current series of photographs depict spaces devoid of tangible presence, where the boundaries of our physical reality intersect with our inner selves. The rapid advancement of digital technologies brings about a time of disconcerting detachment: I aim to evoke this through psychogeographical images that re-enchant the post-internet landscape. The results may be vivid abstraction or kitschy un-reality, but on closer inspection, are full of intimately familiar textures and forms.
I think of my photographs as stage-sets that invite the viewer to place themselves inside the liminal spaces they depict. The colour and scale of my work is evocative of playfulness and control; the results could be read as nostalgic or unsettling.
To enquire about images, pricing and print availability, or to arrange exhibitions and collaborative projects please email: contact@sarahbirdstudio.co.uk
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Selected Group Shows
2023 'HOME', Downstairs at the Department Store, Brixton, London
2023 'Amplify' at The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington, New Zealand
2023 'Walk the Line' at The House of Smalls Dollhouse, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire
2023 Aesthetica Art Prize (longlist display), York Art Gallery, York
2022 'Legacy' at The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras, London
2022 'South of the River' at Tom Cox Gallery, Crystal Palace, London
2022 'Diverge' at Morley College, Waterloo, London
2022 'Spring Exhibition' at London Lighthouse Gallery, Canning Town, London
2022 'Winter' at KingsgateProject Space, London
2021 'Notre Temps I Our Time', virtual exhibition with LaCondamine France and ArtCan UK
2021 'Crossing the Liminal' at Hampstead Garden Gallery, London
2021 'Inspire' at D Contemporary - 23 Grafton St, Mayfair, London
2021 'Open Fragments' online exhibition with Pragmata Collective
2019/20 'Elevate 02' - The Shard, London
2020 'Vienna Calling II' - Galerie Artpool, Austria
2020 'TRANSIENT' - Online Exhibition with ArtCan
2020 '#FakeNews' - Offshoot Gallery, London
2019 'COUNTER I BALANCE' - Trinity Gallery, London
2017 'Desperate Artwives / FiLiA Conference' - Institute of Education, London
2017 'Artsdepot Open' - Apthorp Gallery, London (shortlisted)
2016 'THAT Show' - Four Corners Gallery, London
2014 'Natural Continuum' - Portman Gallery, London
Podcasts, Publications and Awards
2024 Porridge Magazine, Issue 07
2022 Aesthetica Art Prize longlist and feature in the magazine's annual 'Future Now' publication
2022 ArtSeeker Stories Podcast with Emma Hill, episode 23
2021 Art Seen Magazine, Summer 2021 Issue
2021 Interim Arts Zine, Issue 02
2021 The New Artist (Boomer Magazine), Issue 01
2021 Artist Talk at EPOX Contemporary, May 2021
2020 Discussion panel at 'Crossing the Liminal', Hampstead Garden Gallery
2018 Artsdepot Open Prize shortlist
2017 Camden Arts Center / Making and UnMaking winner of Instagram Contest, selected by Duro Olowu
Education
2008 - 2009 PGCE Secondary Art and Design - Institute of Education, London
2002 - 2005 BA (Hons) Fine Art and History of Art - Goldsmith's College, London
2001 - 2002 Foundation Diploma in Art and Design - Buckinghamshire University
Exhibitions I have shown in at Offshoot Gallery, Trinity Gallery, Four Corners and The Shard, London.
