Sarah Z. Short
Maker Monday - October 2024
About the Artist
Name: Sarah z. Short
Medium: printmaking and collage
Years creating: early adulthood
Based in: Richmond, RI
Website: Sarahzshort.com
Instagram: @Sarah_z_short
Click an image to view slideshow
Sarah has been exhibiting with SCAA since 2021, and has also taught classes in our printshop. Outside of her involvement here, she has created an online class for artists interested in learning abstract composition. In the class, students study the work of abstract artists and apply what they notice to their own work using a limited amount of materials. She is an award winning artist whose honors include winning the 2024 Contemporary Collage Magazine Awards. Sarah's first solo exhibition, Stories Told - Fragments of Paper and Prose, is at AiR Studio Gallery in Westerly and will be on display until October 27. - SCAA
Where are you from, and what do you make?
I grew up in Charlestown and live in Richmond. I’m a printmaker and collage artist.
How long have you been seriously pursuing art?
My mother is a fiber and fabric artist, so I saw her creativity my whole life. As a child, I was more interested in reading than creating and only occasionally attempted to learn a craft. As an adult, I tried everything: quilting, weaving, dyeing fabric and fiber, spinning…the list is endless. I was a middle and high school English teacher and often added art projects into my lessons. At some point, I began getting into paper arts. I’m sure that came from my interest in books and writing. I took continuing education classes at the Rhode Island School of Design on papermaking, collage, letterpress printing, and bookbinding. I spent years bouncing around between all of these arts and crafts. Curriculum restrictions began to impact how much creativity I could bring to my teaching so I started doing more and more art outside of school. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I started gelli plate printing and found my way back to collage.
What inspires you to create?
I work with found vintage papers and ephemera, mostly from books. I spend a lot of time sourcing materials and taking them apart. I have a Nolan Proof Press and use my collection of wooden type to print onto the book pages. That process of collecting and printing the papers inspires the art.
Which artist outside of your chosen medium has had the most impact on your art? What do they do and in what way do they influence you?
Just one? Cubism has influenced my most recent collection because I wanted to get away from squares and rectangles and find more interesting shapes. I started working with vintage magazines and because there’s not much color in the pages, I had to get creative with the shapes I was cutting to take advantage of any color I could find. The collages I made reminded me of Cubism, so I began to study those artists for more inspiration.
Is there a work of art that has changed your life or how you view the world in some way?
Not a specific piece of art, but artists Kurt Schwitters and Robert Rauschenberg, and their use of found papers, inspired me to use only vintage papers in my art.
As a member of SCAA, what do you like most about us?
SCAA is a supportive and welcoming organization with many opportunities for artists to learn, teach, and show their work.
Tell us a joke.
What do you call two colors who always praise each other?
Complimentary colors!