Sarah West (Born 1985) she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Wake Forest University. She majored in Painting and Minored in Psychology. Sarah also holds a Post Baccalaureate from Virginia Commonwealth University. She also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a MFA in Painting from Clemson University. Her work references both digital technology and Early Renaissance paintings through detailed and highly-saturated hybrids of painting techniques. The artifacts of digital processes combined with digital symbols and religious narratives suggest the spiritual undercurrents surrounding digital technology in its potential for transcendence, enlightenment, and evoking a sense of the infinite. Her work explores ways the spiritual realm has been represented today and in the past, and points to the perseverance of her desire to be transported by visual means. The resulting paintings call to mind a godly encounter, reflecting on both the spiritual aura surrounding new technologies and the religious subject matter referenced in Renaissance sources.
Sarah has participated in numerous solo, 2 person and group exhibitions including those at Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC, START Gallery at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, Bibb City Gallery, Columbus, Georgia, Lee Gallery, Clemson, SC, Woskob Gallery, State College, PA, Ridderhof Martin Gallery, University of Mary Washington, VA, among others. Her work hints at elusiveness in capturing the world around us and refers to the history of image-making. Within her paintings, photo-editing software’s visual cues point to a type of virtual reality that’s idealized. She has won many awards and her art appears in many leading publications.
